Bombay Mornings

The company buses arrive in a group of three at 8:20 am daily stopping just beside my building. Its been a month since I met my Airoli friends in the bus. Everyday its 6:30 am and am awake and in a hurry to make it to office latest by 7:30 to exercise in the gym.
Twenty minutes approximately are spent in getting up from the cozy bed, brushing, putting office clothes in the bag, taking soap and towel. Then I got to put on shoes and look for the company id card and at 7 am downstairs, standing outside my building hoping to get a cab which would drop at office. Sometimes I feel luck owes me a debt for my hope turns into reality, though its once in ten days. Rest of the days, I get a cab till Gandhinagar, which is followed by a two minutes brisk walk to the bus stop. With sleepy eyes I sit in the cab and the blaring music of the radio keeps me awake for the journey ahead. Its worse if I am seated at the back. Even after asking to lower the volume, the reduced volume is still good enough to irritate me especially when I hate the song being played. Its a picturesque sight over the Airoli bridge which spans 1.5 kms and the only sound other than the vehicle is of the long and massive trucks. A river runs below the bridge with thick green forest on both shores. Pink early morning sky, birds and sunlight don't gel with the loud music. Just after the bridge, is the toll stop or toll naka as we call it. After a five to ten second halt the cab again picks up speed and am outside the limits of Navi Mumbai. Some people (its a shared cab) ask the driver to stop just at the four crossroads at the Eastern Express Highway. The journey after this is pretty fast for about five minutes and with the wind blowing without any dust or smell of fuels of vehicles its a cool ride ahead. I really forget if this is the same Bombay which has jam-packed roads in the evenings and peak hours of the morning. Sign boards signalling ways to Chembur,Seepz,Powai signal the end of the speedy ride and a right turn is taken to go to Kanjurmarg. Barren land with small patches of greenery on either side of the road run only for about two minutes, and a small overbridge making way for the railway line under it is where I get down. After the walk am waiting for a BEST bus to take me to the office. The walk, the wait and the bus journey when over sums upto fifteen minutes and am towards my bay to change the shoes.
Today, its the first time I did not come alone in the cab as Abhishek told yesterday he would come along early. At 7 today, both were out, waiting for a cab. Luckily, the driver agreed to drop us at Vikhroli and in fifteen minutes we were at the office.