Breathing Behind Masks

Stepping out onto the roads as a vehicle rider has made masks feel less like protection and more like a daily requirement.

Whether it is a short ride or a long commute, the smoke from vehicles, road dust, and polluted air become impossible to ignore, especially during busy traffic hours. Like many other people in the city, I spend a significant part of my day on the roads, surrounded by traffic, dust, and polluted air.

Over time, wearing a mask while riding has stopped feeling optional and has become part of the routine. What seems to be more alarming is how the daily AQI level seems to get worse.

One simple example is how an AQI of 73, marked as “Poor,” may appear like just a number on a screen, but for people commuting daily, it reflects something physically felt in the air around us.

The irritation in the throat, the burning eyes, the heaviness while breathing during traffic, these are experiences many riders and pedestrians silently go through every day. This image tells the story of how people are slowly adapting to unhealthy air instead of questioning why clean air has become difficult to find.

As someone who rides through these roads daily, this photograph represents more than pollution itself; it represents a shared reality of living, and breathing through the city despite the invisible risks surrounding us each day.