2020: In a scene that seems straight out of a Zombie film, not a soul can be seen on the highway near the Thane Majwada junction at the start of Covid-induced lockdown on March 22, 2020. Pic/Sameer Markande

2022: Fast forward to last week and the junction is back to humans and vehicles populating every inch of its space. Pic/Sameer Markande

2020: This portion of the Western Express Highway, at the Dahisar Check Naka, has rarely sported this kind of empty look, but the pandemic miraculously cleared it of all congestion during the lockdown on March 22, 2020. Pic/Nimesh Dave

2022: As soon as curbs were lifted, the stretch swiftly got into character. This jammed, chock-a-block scene, every motorist's nightmare, was on April 1. Pic/Nimesh Dave

2020: An unusually deserted Western Express Highway checkpost near Ismail Yusuf College, Jogeshwari, at the beginning of the lockdown, on March 25, 2020. Pic/Satej Shinde

2022: A far more familiar traffic jam-hit scene at the same spot on March 26, this year, as life in Mumbai returned to its pre-pandemic, chaotic state. Pic/Satej Shinde

2020: This lone dog at the Gateway of India seems to be asking ‘where everybody went?’ on April 14, 2020, with not another soul in sight at the usually jam-packed precinct. Pic/Ashish Raje

2022: Cut to the same date this year where the Gateway is teeming with visitors after the government ended all pandemic-induced curbs. Pic/Ashish Raje

2020: Just a smattering of defiant bikers on the usually packed-to-the-gills road outside Oberoi Mall in Goregaon East at the height of the lockdown, on April 8, 2020. Pic/Rane Ashish

2022: A far more familiar, haphazardly moving traffic scene at the same spot on April 12. Pic/Rane Ashish