5.

It’s 5 am. For any other civilisation it’s probably one of those hours that passes by when you’re asleep and you never realise. For some of us Bombayites, its time to get up and running.

The city is so bright it feels like it’s 9pm. The only giveaway is the roads. The empty roads running through the city, passing cars like blood. There are women walking these streets, alone, confident. If not anything, this city does ensure safety even when enveloped in chaos. There are houses waking up for another day of madness, prepared and strong. There are buses, with free seats yet lined with men and women.

Rickshaws are being called for, horns are being blown, buses are being waited for, trains are being boarded, because Bombay never sleeps. Bombay is incapable of falling asleep.