To better understand this post please take a few minutes to youtube a video on Delhi traffic as a visual aid
Whenever I look back on my trip to India I will always fondly remember the traffic. When I arrived in Delhi 3 weeks ago I had my first experience with Indian traffic, as I was driving through it that first night from the airport I almost thought I was watching a movie, and that's when it really hit me that I had finally made it to India. Google or youtube any video on traffic in Delhi or India and what you see on your small computer screen is what I travel though everyday.
Its chaotic, fast paced, and sometimes quite confusing but after awhile you see that there is a pattern. First of all everything is Brit side (aka backwards) so I always get a kick out of sitting in the front (US) drivers seat with no steering wheel, when I am walking on the street and I need to cross the road I have trained myself to look right then left to make sure I don't walk into on coming traffic! On the road at any given time could be the following: cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, bicycle carts, ox carts (if in Rajasthan then camel carts), pedestrians, and of course wandering cows. It is not unusual to have every single above mentioned transportation on the road all at once! The roads themselves are poorly maintained there are pot holes, random piles of dirt, unpaved strips, and large stones propped up against the median. At one point in Rajasthan we were on a road that was as wide as a large walking path. Every time we met another car or truck one of us had to pull off of the road to let the other pass. Paved Indian roads look like ours ie with lanes going in opposite directions with the dotted yellow line down the middle, stoplights and crosswalks etc. however, they are there for show and serve no real purpose to the driver. The road we travel on to get to work is technically 3 lanes wide, (meaning there are 2 sets of dotted lines) but one can easily fit a bus, 2 cars, 2 rickshaws, and a variety of 2 wheels vehicles across the lanes. Now granted the cars are much smaller than in the US and the auto rickshaws are 3 wheeled but its still a crazy sight to see! The cars and motorcycles are equipped with turn signals but they remain unused, instead they use their horns. They beep when they're passing another vehicle, they beep when someone is shifting into their "lane" and they beep when they have nothing else to do! Drivers love to weave in and out of lanes; they pass on the right or left or if you're small enough right up through the middle. They also have no problem veering into oncoming traffic to pass on the right. I have barely blinked an eye as we drove on the shoulder of the road facing on coming traffic for 5 minutes in order to get onto the other side of the highway between Dehli and Agra. I have noticed that Indians in general are incapable of queuing up; they just amass in a group and the same goes on the roads. I have yet to see the cars line up bumper to fender; they all push up as far as they can fitting into whatever cracks and crevices are available. Pedestrians are also part of the daily traffic circus, they just pop out when they feel like it; sometimes standing in the middle of the road waiting for a car to pass before making it to the other side. Cross walks are virtually nonexistent and the ones I have seen are unused. Red lights are more of a suggestion than a rule, people have no problem running them or slowing down just long enough to check for pedestrians then speed away. The advantage is that we don't go over 45-50km an hour, which makes cuts down on high speeds and major car accidents are rare. I myself have sat at a red light for over 5 minutes in the middle of the night with no oncoming traffic but I couldn't bring myself to run the light, it seems that following traffic rules is a foreign concept in India. And don't get my started on the cows! They roam where they will all over India; in the cities, on the highways, in the towns. When you are in India for the first time and hesitant to cross the roads find yourself the nearest cow and cross with it because a cow trumps everything in the game of traffic. We have come to a standstill many times on the highway waiting for a lone cow to move off to the side of the road. Its India, what are you going to do?! Even though I know I could never drive in India I have come to enjoy the ride. Despite the seemingly chaotic system traffic like water flows, the current sweeps you from side to side up into the center and then out to the sides. You don't fight the current you just go with it and it eventually takes you where you want to go :-)
Whenever I look back on my trip to India I will always fondly remember the traffic. When I arrived in Delhi 3 weeks ago I had my first experience with Indian traffic, as I was driving through it that first night from the airport I almost thought I was watching a movie, and that's when it really hit me that I had finally made it to India. Google or youtube any video on traffic in Delhi or India and what you see on your small computer screen is what I travel though everyday.
Its chaotic, fast paced, and sometimes quite confusing but after awhile you see that there is a pattern. First of all everything is Brit side (aka backwards) so I always get a kick out of sitting in the front (US) drivers seat with no steering wheel, when I am walking on the street and I need to cross the road I have trained myself to look right then left to make sure I don't walk into on coming traffic! On the road at any given time could be the following: cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws, bicycle carts, ox carts (if in Rajasthan then camel carts), pedestrians, and of course wandering cows. It is not unusual to have every single above mentioned transportation on the road all at once! The roads themselves are poorly maintained there are pot holes, random piles of dirt, unpaved strips, and large stones propped up against the median. At one point in Rajasthan we were on a road that was as wide as a large walking path. Every time we met another car or truck one of us had to pull off of the road to let the other pass. Paved Indian roads look like ours ie with lanes going in opposite directions with the dotted yellow line down the middle, stoplights and crosswalks etc. however, they are there for show and serve no real purpose to the driver. The road we travel on to get to work is technically 3 lanes wide, (meaning there are 2 sets of dotted lines) but one can easily fit a bus, 2 cars, 2 rickshaws, and a variety of 2 wheels vehicles across the lanes. Now granted the cars are much smaller than in the US and the auto rickshaws are 3 wheeled but its still a crazy sight to see! The cars and motorcycles are equipped with turn signals but they remain unused, instead they use their horns. They beep when they're passing another vehicle, they beep when someone is shifting into their "lane" and they beep when they have nothing else to do! Drivers love to weave in and out of lanes; they pass on the right or left or if you're small enough right up through the middle. They also have no problem veering into oncoming traffic to pass on the right. I have barely blinked an eye as we drove on the shoulder of the road facing on coming traffic for 5 minutes in order to get onto the other side of the highway between Dehli and Agra. I have noticed that Indians in general are incapable of queuing up; they just amass in a group and the same goes on the roads. I have yet to see the cars line up bumper to fender; they all push up as far as they can fitting into whatever cracks and crevices are available. Pedestrians are also part of the daily traffic circus, they just pop out when they feel like it; sometimes standing in the middle of the road waiting for a car to pass before making it to the other side. Cross walks are virtually nonexistent and the ones I have seen are unused. Red lights are more of a suggestion than a rule, people have no problem running them or slowing down just long enough to check for pedestrians then speed away. The advantage is that we don't go over 45-50km an hour, which makes cuts down on high speeds and major car accidents are rare. I myself have sat at a red light for over 5 minutes in the middle of the night with no oncoming traffic but I couldn't bring myself to run the light, it seems that following traffic rules is a foreign concept in India. And don't get my started on the cows! They roam where they will all over India; in the cities, on the highways, in the towns. When you are in India for the first time and hesitant to cross the roads find yourself the nearest cow and cross with it because a cow trumps everything in the game of traffic. We have come to a standstill many times on the highway waiting for a lone cow to move off to the side of the road. Its India, what are you going to do?! Even though I know I could never drive in India I have come to enjoy the ride. Despite the seemingly chaotic system traffic like water flows, the current sweeps you from side to side up into the center and then out to the sides. You don't fight the current you just go with it and it eventually takes you where you want to go :-)
The philosopher shines through!
ReplyDeleteBTW, bring one of those cows home with you when you come, we could eat it!
Dad