Traffic jams have become synonymous to many urban/metro cities. And if you thought Bangalore’s traffic woes were unmatched, Gurugram just rolled up with a plot twist and a viral video to prove it. A now-viral video clip on Instagram, showing the snail-paced chaos of rush hour near Cyber Hub in Sector 24, has left the social media users stunned, amused and oddly…resigned.
Posted on Instagram by user handle @nomadic_ankit_, the video shows an endless queue of vehicles inching forward slowly. The caption of the post read, “Ab fark nahi padta,” with the melancholic Atif Aslam song “Ab toh aadat si hai mujhko aise jeene ki” playing in the background.
It’s equal parts poetic and painfully relatable for a lot of us.
Netizens chime in
While some netizens reacted in horror, posting, “Why is this normal?”, others responded with humour. One user remarked, “Problem is, people made this the norm. No one’s complaining to the government.” Another noted, “It’s not traffic, it’s personality development in motion.”
Suggestions poured in like monsoon rain; ironically the same kind that recently cracked open Gurgaon’s already fragile roads. “Why is it not mandatory for companies with over 200 employees to offer a bus?” asked one user. Another proposed, “Just give us a metro line from HUDA to IGI. And a bridge to dodge Cyber City’s Bermuda triangle of traffic.”
All the lanes of the wide Gurugram road are seen packed in the video. “After some point, adding lanes is not the solution,” a user posted. Another added, “Thodi barish aur ho jaye…phir dekho jaam.”
Monsoon and ‘Millennium City’
Of course, the city’s recent downpour hasn’t helped. Key roads overseen by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) have turned into obstacle courses, complete with potholes. Recently, videos of vehicles almost submerged on the waterlogged street of Gurugram also surfaced on X.
Still, the spirit of the daily commuter remains unbroken, mostly because it’s stuck behind a Fortuner with its hazard lights on. As one user put it, “Gurgaon is giving Bangalore some serious competition.”
Until then, Gurgaon’s traffic is less of a jam and more of a lifestyle. And clearly, one that many have learned to navigate with equal parts frustration and fatalistic acceptance.