Flying into Mumbai, the city’s high-rises glinted a greeting in the afternoon sun. I soon discovered that flying the sky was a lot easier than navigating Mumbai’s roads. As the horns honked, I walked through Bandra and got my first lesson in how to cross four lanes of continuously moving traffic without blinking. An experience that sharply accelerated my learning curve! I soon realised that I had to simultaneously look left, right as well as behind my back. In Mumbai, traffic flows from everywhere. As I watched my hosts complete the task without so much as a blink of an eye, I knew what mastery looked like. But I was on the journey to proficiency. The next day I became Lois the tourist: walking Bandra, the promenade and the fishing village, to the ruined Portuguese fort walls at Land’s End. I took in the city’s contrasting worlds of old and new – a theme that would continue to unfold throughout the journey. And then it was time to work!