India in one word: hectic. It is so incredibly hectic here! Everything is hectic, even the tastes, sounds, and smells. India has a very...particular kind of smell. I think it comes from the smells of dirt,
urine and garbage mixed in with spices and plants. It's very unique to
India; I've never smelled anything like it before. The same goes for the food, I've never tasted anything like it before, but in a good way. The food here is amazing, we have four cooks who make us three meals of authentic Indian food a day, but it is spicy. Despite loving almost everything relating to Indian culture, I cannot handle spice. So far, everything here has tasted the same to me--spicy. I'm sure I'll get used to it, it's just bombarding right now. The most hectic sense of them all is the sounds here in India. Before I came here, I thought driving in Boston was loud. India blows Boston out of the water: every action a driver takes he honks his horn. Driving here is a very different experience; it has it's own particular set of driving laws (as found on
previous traveler's blog:
Article I:
The assumption of immortality is required of all road users at all times.
Article II:
Indian
traffic tends to work on something resembling the olde caste system.
The following precedence must be accorded at all times. In descending
order, give way to: cows (do not mess with these ever), elephants,
heavy trucks, buses, official cars, camels, light trucks, buffalo,
jeeps, ox-carts, private cars, motorcycles, scooters, auto-rickshaws
(you), pigs, pedal-rickshaws, goats, bicycles (goods carrying),
handcarts, bicycles (passenger carrying), dogs, pedestrians, gap year
students.
Article III:
All
wheeled vehicles shall be driven in accordance with the maxim: “To slow
is to falter, to brake is to fail, to stop is defeat.” This is the
Indian driver’s mantra.
Article IV:
Use of Horn:
(IV, A-C):
Cars:
- Short Blasts (urgent): Indicate
supremacy, ie. in clearing dogs, rickshaws and pedestrians from path,
and meaning “Im late home for my tea - the wife won’t be happy”.
- Long Blasts (desperate): Denote supplication, i.e. oncoming truck “I am going too fast to stop, so unless you slow down we shall both die”
- Single Blasts (casual): “I
have seen someone out of India’s 1.2 billion whom I recognise”; “There
is a bird in the road ahead”, “My word, I had an epiphany” or simply and
most commonly “I have not blown my horn for several minutes”.
(IV, 2A):
Trucks and buses:
- All horn signals have the same meaning, viz, “I have an all up
weight of approximately 12 tons and have no intention of stopping, even
if I could”. This signal may be emphasised by the use of headlamps
(full beam is usually preferred here). Be aware that many truck drivers
rest bricks on the accelerator and take up a cross-legged seating
position. They will not touch the brake, ever.
(Article IV is subject at all times to the provisions of Order of Precedence in Article II above.)
Article V:
All
manoeuvres, use of horn and evasive action shall be left until the last
possible moment. If the manoeuvre is left until too late then the horn
should be used again.
Article VI:
In
the absence of seat-belts (which there is), passengers shall wear
garlands of marigolds. These should be fastened at all times. In the
absence of marigolds passengers shall close their eyes.
Article VII:
Right
of way: Traffic entering a road from the left has priority. So does
traffic from the right, and also traffic in the middle.
(VII.I):
- Lane discipline: All
Indian traffic at all times, and irrespective of the direction of
travel, shall occupy the left, the right and the centre of the road. If
the road is full to capacity, the occupation of the hard-shoulder is
more than acceptable.
Article VIII:
Roundabouts:
These are fondly known as circles in India. Circles in the middle of
crossroads have no traffic management function. Any other impression
should be ignored. If in doubt use your horn and close your eyes.
Article IX:
Overtaking:
is mandatory. Every moving vehicle is required to try to overtake every
other moving vehicle, irrespective of whether it has just overtaken
you. Overtaking should only be attempted in suitable locations, such as
in the face of oncoming traffic, on blind bends, at junctions and in
the middle of villages / city centres. No more than 2 inches should be
allowed between your vehicle and the one you are passing – one inch in
the case of bicycles or pedestrians. When overtaking is not possible
then undertaking is just as good (sometimes better)
Article X:
Nirvana
may be obtained through the head-on crash, alternatively, you may find
it whilst squatting at the side of the road, emptying your bowels of
that ‘bad idea curry’ you had the previous night.
Article XI:
Reversing is no longer applicable, since no vehicle in India uses their reverse gear.
Article XII:
The 10th incarnation of God was an articulated tanker.
Article XIII:
The state of the road is non-negotiable. If there is a road you should think yourselves lucky.
I've only been in India for two days and I laughed when I found it because it is so incredibly true and there is no better way to describe it.
Because I'm the only student here so far, the most effective way to get around has been on the back of my professor's moped. It's strange and scary riding on the back of a moped navigating around traffic in India. Once the rest of the students arrive, we'll be mostly taking rickshaws around. But never fear, rickshaws themselves are quite the experience, so I won't be lacking in frightening adventures.
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| My bed with a mosquito net |
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| The view of the neighborhood from my balcony |
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