(No) animals were harmed in the writing of this piece.

Every fortnight, I travel to Kalyan and Ulhasnagar to see patients at the charitable Red Cross Society and a few neighbouring clinics, so that people afflicted with brain and spine problems don’t have to travel to Mumbai to consult with me. The reason for sharing this information is not to boast of my benevolence, but my courage in braving a two-hour car ride fraught with a plethora of potholes and tormenting traffic. As I have the luxury of being driven down in a rented car hired by the hospital, like the average human, I spend most of my time on my phone instead of doing what I tell my kids to—look out of the window (and identify the next pothole that we are about to plunge into).