Friday 30 March 2012

At The Traffic Signal


There are many studies done on the stress levels of residents of Mumbai but none of it can compare to what I saw today. If you ever want to really know how stressful life in Mumbai can get, just stand at a long traffic signal in the evening and peek into the cars, taxis, buses and rickshaws surreptitiously.

What I saw today when the signal turned red:

A student aged eighteen or nineteen leaning heavily against the right side of the rickshaw, headphones in her ears, her eyes closed under her specs and her face etched with tiredness.

A man around fifty sitting in the back seat of his Honda City with his chauffer driving in the front, snoozing away with his head lolling on his chest.

A rickshaw driver yawning so widely that he must have dislocated his jaw.

A woman in the driving seat staring straight ahead, lost in thought, not even realizing that the signal had turned green.

You don’t need numbers and statistics to tell you that life in Mumbai and other metro cities is not all sunshine and rainbows.

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