Her secondhand Maruti van hiccupped over bone-shaking speed-breakers. Hot air through the windows fanned her already flushed and perspiring face. At a traffic signal, she swept a cotton hanky across her forehead, as she waited for the red signal to change to green. A carrier truck, with a huge slogan printed on its back—Love Thy Mother—blocked her route. An auto on her right displayed a lingerie ad and Sonia couldn't help grinning. Anything for a little extra money. The signal turned green and immediately cars honked impatiently. Cyclists and two-wheelers cut recklessly through her path. Considering the manner in which the busses and the rash two-wheelers raced at high speed, you'd think that the Pune roads were empty. Instead, the roads pulsated with life, not only with vehicles criss-crossing dangerously, but also two- and four-legged animals lazing casually on the streets. Sonia sighed. Heat or no heat, with every passing day, the traffic was getting unbearable.Finally, she drove into Koregaon Park—a residential area for the upper crust of society, which also housed one of the major attractions of Pune, the Osho Commune—the international meditation centre of Osho Rajneesh.
