Chapter 2: Plant response to elevated CO2 - DRUM - University of ...

glare of the sun gleaming on the steel thermos, which made Mrs. Mehta linger
for a while. It was something about the man: a strange kind of energy exuded
from him. His body was hunched over protecting itself from the biting cold and
his steps were slow but there seemed to be an energy, a force that was driving
him on, making him place the walking stick one step at a time ahead of him. It
was evident that he didn’t know where he was headed and stumbled down
several times out of sheer exhaustion. Yet again, he would get up and walk, on
and on. Ice had formed on either side of his mouth and right below his nose, ice
frosted over his ears and his lips had a bluish tinge, his face weather beaten,
creased, his breath audible, long drawn and deep. It was a slow, treacherous
climb till the summit; the sky was gray. After some time the snowstorm abated.
He was visibly enthused; he climbed, rappelled and walked concentrating only
on the next step ahead of him. He had stopped looking at the summit, and yet
slowly he was getting there.
The rain pounded on the windows, she sat immobilized; suddenly the
door bell rang, she moved a little forward to the edge of the sofa, placed her
palms downwards to hoist herself up on her feet but this time a little easily, a bit
quickly. She walked to shut the door of the balcony, stepping over the puddle of
water and then walked over to open the door. Mrs. Kapur peered inside through
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