I am sitting in the back of a yellow auto-rickshaw. It is 8:30 AM, and the road is a parking lot. The engine is shaking, the sun is getting hot, and we haven’t moved an inch in five minutes.
Usually, I would be irritated. I’d be checking my watch, phone and worrying about my work. But today, I decided to just look around.
When you move slowly, you see things you usually miss. My driver isn’t looking at the road. He’s looking in his tiny mirror, fixing his hair and humming a song. To him, this is just another Tuesday.
A man on a scooter next to me is balancing a lunch box on his knees. He looks tired, but he smiles when he sees a small bird land on a wire.
My driver sees a tiny space between a big bus and a car. He twists the handle, the auto tilts, and somehow, we squeeze through. It feels like magic.
People are leaning on their horns, making a loud noise. But the cars don’t move. Noise doesn’t solve problems; it just makes everyone’s head hurt.
The person in the fancy, expensive car and the person on the old bicycle are both stuck in the same heat. Traffic doesn’t care how much money you have.
I saw a man selling water, a woman walking her child to school, and a dog sleeping under a parked truck. Even when traffic stops, life keeps going.
Finally, a police officer waves his hand. The “river” of cars starts to flow again. The wind hits my face, and the city becomes a blur once more.
I was ten minutes late to my desk, but I wasn’t stressed. I realized that being “stuck” gave me a chance to actually see the world instead of just rushing through it.
How does your commute world look like 👀
Percept of Perception! 
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