Consider a child, aged 5 or 6, out in the city on a trip with his or her parents, travelling from one end of Bombay to the other in the hope of being able to see the Gateway of India. Consider the manner of this child's commute, and the options available to the parents.

If they're rich enough, they may consider driving, or booking a cab, so the child can stare out the window at traffic for a few hours. The commute which, on the basis of kilometres that need to be covered, will supposedly take a half hour or less, will end up taking a large part of the child's day. Much of this period will be spent at traffic signals or behind buses, with patience giving way to anger as everything crawls. The child may want to use a toilet, as children want to when stuck in the same position for hours, but there will be no access to one. Where on the highway, for instance, can a man, woman or child find a clean, functional toilet? Let's ignore that for now.