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Rachel Lopez is a journalist from Mumbai, India and she has a very unusual hobby. Lopez’s hobby is taking pictures of taxi ceilings, making one think, what’s so special about it? Well, the young journalist thought the same until one time, she accidentally noticed the pictures hanging above her head when she was riding in a taxi.

Apparently, various patterns and pictures are known to cover the roofs of thousands of taxis in Mumbai, each one unique and very different. Mesmerized by the unique designs, Rachel started taking pictures of the taxi roofs, and so far, she hasn’t encountered the exact same design twice, despite some of them being very similar.

Lopez has over 500 pictures on her Instagram account and nearly all of them feature her sitting in a taxi, taking a picture of the car’s ceiling. With over 11k followers on her Instagram, the journalist dedicated her platform to share the unique taste of culture that can only be found in the city of Mumbai.

More info: Instagram

Rachel told Bored Panda a bit more in detail about the overall culture of taxis in Mumbai.

"Mumbai has 55,000 black-and-yellow taxis. And they're a fairly inexpensive way of getting around. I was headed to work on a warm April day in one taxi in 2017 and looked up inside the cab. My taxi had a ceiling with a chocolate brown background and strawberries in unnatural colors like purple, green, and blue. It was ghastly. I loved it immediately and took a shot for fun, maybe see how many designs I could find. I have shot 500 designs so far and still, there are so many taxis yet to take and designs to discover.

I'm inspired by the idea that Mumbai (and any city) is full of stories and surprises if you only care to look. There's always something colorful or hilarious in a forgotten corner that could be overhead and that makes you look twice. That's my fuel for seeking out more."

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Karynne Williams
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Makes me want to change the headliner of my car, just to make it more interesting.

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Karin
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I drove this taxi, the ceiling would make me feel happy every day!

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Zoe Hoesley
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m prolly just hella hungry but all of these ceilings look like really cute frosting and fondant work, crap now I’m thinking about cake 🧁

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Journalist Has A Hobby Taking Pictures Of The Roof Of Taxis In Mumbai And His Collection Is Incredible

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Lxm
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I find the patterns of the pin placement interesting esp. On this one

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Zoe Hoesley
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of the edible wallpaper from the original W***y wonka

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