The Great Mumbai Commute

It was a long conference, and at the end of it, I was glad to pack up my laptop and head home. It was 8:30 p.m. The entire city seemed to be going in the same direction as I was.

The red BEST bus was packed full of commuters. Clicking this photo from the luxury of my airconditioned car, I felt guilty, as if I was personally responsible for the heat and dust and grime.

Ten minutes into the drive, everything came to a standstill.

The reason? This sub-way. It can handle only one lane.

Eventually we got out of the subway. There was a long wait at the intersection, to turn into the highway. The motorcycles were sort of weaving in and out through the rest of the traffic, getting to the head of the "queue".

On the highway it was quite clear who the boss was.

Lettering on the back of a tiny auto-rickshaw. This guy was zipping past the trucks - a brave David in the face of multiple Goliaths!

Unlike me, this was one guy not in a hurry to get home.

Finally we got past the suburbs. No more auto-rickshaws: the black-and-yellow is the king of the roads now. A little more distance - and I'll be home.

Ta-da! And now we do this whole cycle all over again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that...