delhi metro.

step 1 always.
text the friend who lives in delhi.

trust her/him, yes. that's the whole level. you don't try to figure it out. you ask, you listen, you do what they say. zero ego.

quietly. in the background.
you download dmrc travel.

you don't tell the friend. on the outside you're still asking. on the inside you're studying. learning twice as fast.

then it clicks.
yellow line is literally yellow. pink line is literally pink.

OFFICIAL DMRC NETWORK MAP

the pink line goes round. yellow goes top to bottom. you start connecting platform display colours to the map. now the map is not a map. it's delhi.

next trip. no calls. no help.
you read the board yourself.

the board makes sense. the platform makes sense. the train comes. doors open on the left. you step in. you didn't call anyone. small win. real one.

then this. one colour meets another.
line change at dilli haat — ina.

you stop being a metro user. you become metro literate. you start checking which side the platform is on before the announcement plays.

this is the level
that breaks first-timers.

rajiv chowk has 8 exits. wrong gate = different planet. same station name, totally different part of delhi. always check the gate before the station arrives.

app off. phone in pocket.
you just go.

you have stopped being someone who uses the metro. you have become someone who knows the metro.

next time someone at ashram texts you "bhai kahan se le", you'll know exactly what to type. that's the level. that's the whole point.