2020: This stretch of road between Chembur and Sion on the Eastern Express Highway is perennially choked by traffic. This magical scene, however, was days after the lockdown was announced in March 2020. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

2022: The stretch on April 13. The area very quickly got back to reality after the curbs were lifted. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

2020: Traffic on the usually chock-a-block Elphinstone Road flyover did the vanishing act in April 2020, days after the pandemic-induced lockdown was announced. Pic/Bipin Kokate

2022: In this April 13, 2022 picture, traffic had returned to its bumper-to-bumper familiarity. Pic/Bipin Kokate

2020: Amar Mahal junction in Chembur, which has motorists’ hearts sinking every time they approach it, was a marathoner’s dream following the first announcement of the nationwide lockdown in March 2020. Pic/Atul Kamble

2022: The familiar trepidation returns for the city’s motorists and this scene at the same spot, on April 11 this year, shows why. Pic/Atul Kamble

2021: This scene at the Dadar TT Circle is from just a year ago when the second wave hit the city like a sledgehammer. Everything, including the dreaded traffic at this circle, decided to take it easy. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

2022: A year later, the familiar dread and the traffic has returned to Dadar TT circle. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

2021: Marine Drive, a tourist and leisure seeker’s delight, where one never worries about being in close proximity to absolute strangers, had not a soul in sight in this picture from April 20, last year. Pic/Ashish Raje

2022: In February, a more familiar, care-a-damn attitude on display at the same spot. Pic/Bipin Kokate