College used to be from Dwarka to Noida and back so that meant cutting through most of Delhi to reach the other place. This also meant that early morning for the 9 am class, I used to leave home at 7:15. :( It used to take 50 mins or so. On the way back, if I leave college before 5 pm, then I shall be home by 6 or so which means roughly hour- hour and 10 mins drive which makes it a combined total of 2 hours or so daily 5 days a week.
Yes there have been the odd cases where it took me 3.5 hours to get home on a rainy, friday evening. It is highly frustrating and can really sap a lot of energy out of a person. Life might be easier in an automatic vehicle.
Now: Office is in Gurgaon. So daily drive is Dwarka-Gurgaon-Dwarka. Now it might seem nearer than Noida but I almost end up on the roads for the same time each day, sometime more. Home to Office takes around 1hr or on a good day 45 mins in the morning. Evening, depending on when I get free, it takes me 45 mins to 1 hr 15 mins. So again I am roughly 2 hours or more on the road daily 5 days a week.
This becomes really tiring after a point and it really affects:
- productivity at work
- mood at home
- social life
- joints (due to constant clutch and brake usage)
I know I might sound like a noob because I am complaining and that there are people doing this since ages and not complaining but just putting down my concerns.
And I think destiny does not want me to have a short commute ever in my life. :P But this means I do get to see fascinating stuff and incidents on the road. :)