Driving Down Mumbai

So i stepped out for my first meeting after being in a lockdown for around three months. It was the furthest that i travelled — from Andheri to Powai — a distance of around 6kms. And driving down is when i instantly realized the need to move out of mumbai — and quickly.

The city seemed a lot more easier to navigate with lesser traffic and definately lesser pollution. The roads were less packed, a commute that would have taken me more than an hour on a regular day took me 15 minutes. And after a three month break — i actually enjoyed driving on these city roads.

And i it was then that i realised that while the city could definitely do with probably half the population it is used to — it cant survive without the density.

Maximum City is caught in its own trap — it needs the people and the density to keep chugging away but eventually it will reach a dead end. The city can only take so much before it starts taking it back.

Even with a severe lack of any form of public space — crippling traffic — monsoons that we seem to survive through with just luck sometimes — the city is still home to a remarkable bunch of gritty people — who may or may not accept you but will certainly shift a bit to give you space to grow.