The Silver (and red and blue) Lining

'Expect the unexpected' is always good advice to give anyone before they travel to Bombay. The city never ceases to amaze you more day by day. I was travelling in a friend's car a few days ago, and we were trying to negotiate our way through the inevitable Bombay traffic on an irritably humid afternoon. Bombay's motorists are not renown for their patience, and that day, it seemed even the elements were spoiling for a fight. As is the custom during long traffic jams, the air was filled with the exquisite cries of cars, buses, rickshaws and motorbikes as if it was mating season in the Serengeti. Frustrated taxi drivers swore loudly, cursing the mothers of anyone unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance while pedestrians and beggars zig-zagged amidst the chaos. 

As we lurched forward inch by inch, constantly shifting between first gear and neutral, the sky began to darken. True to their nature, the Bombay rains had decided to show up unannounced. However, a far greater development was about to astonish me. A large SUV that we had been kissing bumpers with for the last few miles somehow managed to switch lanes, revealing a towing van (otherwise known as the arch nemesis of the parking-challenged) with Herbie on it! YES, THE CAR.