Dhaka is full of stories and opportunities. However, living in the capital city comes with a price. Mostly in the form of time, physical and mental stress, and last but not least, stress on your pockets. But perhaps nothing annoys the residents more than the toil of its traffic.

Call me melodramatic, but I find commuting in Dhaka is an odyssey itself. Even if it's a short distance such as Karwan Bazar to Mirpur-10, it's challenging all the same.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe; on the packed bus I go

Every morning, while setting out for work, I have a number of choices. I can take a bus, or get on the Metro, or hire something from a ridesharing company, or get on a human hauler known as leguna. Each choice comes with its disadvantages since only the most optimistic person can find advantages of Dhaka commute, and I am not one of them.

Buses are the cheapest option in Dhaka, but finding a seat on a local bus during office hours is like winning a lottery. If you are a skinny person like me, whose only defence is his sarcasm, you will have a hard time on the bus.

The ultra-fast pressure cooker

Or as the average Dhaka office goes calls it -- Metro Rail.

It's an amazingly helpful transportation system and people are thankful for it. It has reduced hours of commutes into literally minutes, and it's been a blessing for office goers. But calling it crowded is an understatement.

Getting off the metro is easy because the wave of crowd will take you with them, but getting on it is an entirely different story. You have to get in the line. There are the entitled ones who think they are above getting in a queue and tries to bump in. Engaging in an argument with one of them is as much part of the commute as toiling your way into the compartment.

The compartments are usually so tightly packed that you cannot even stand properly, and if you are anything like I am, you will come out with joint pains because of all the pushing and shoving. So perhaps, calling this commute a pressure ride won't be an injustice.

Hauled across town

Without the larger transportations, life in Dhaka will become very difficult. The rickshaws are too expensive and not a good choice for longer commutes. CNGs are hard to find during peak hours and will leave a mark on your wallet. The only other choice is smaller public transports like a leguna.

The reckless driving, the poorly maintained vehicle that feels like it will fall apart at the next speed breaker, and the tightly packed seats where they force one extra person than the seats are made for; it's another terrible experience.

There's more

Then there are the common issues such as the vehicles delaying on purpose in hopes of getting more passengers. The terrible seats that will readjust your spine at every bump, and last but not least, the average Dhaka residents who are rude for no reason. They will hog more than their fair share of the seat and most frequently, they will be silently hostile. The average Dhaka resident is just as terrible as the daily Dhaka commute. But, after living in the city for a few years, you will feel sorry for them. Because if you had to go through such struggles twice every day, you will become irritable too.

Amongst all these terrible experiences, the good news is a new ticket counter-based bus service has been launched. Approximately, 2,610 pink buses operated by 21 different companies are expected to bring some solace to commuters. With strict adherence to designated stops for entry and exit, one can expect the buses to bring respite to Dhaka residents. Whether they have any positive effect or not, remains to be seen but as another Dhaka resident, I sincerely hope that they do.