Everyone has probably heard stories about the traffic in India, but unless you've been here, you really cannot comprehend it. It's like, even though you've read stories about astronauts, unless you were one of the fortunate few to walk on the moon, you can't really know what it's like. And even once you get used to it, you still see things that make you shake your head.
Like my driver, wanting to avoid a traffic jam, swerving into the other side of the boulevard and bearing down on oncoming traffic for half a kilometer, to avoid the delay. Transport trucks on the highway, turned sideways. Groups of 20 or 30 people crossing four lanes of a highway in a spread out herd, in the midst of oncoming traffic, and a like ghost being sprayed with bullets, emerging unscathed at the other side. I had to close my eyes for that one. I can only speculate this system is one elaborate attempt at population control.
And of course, event like these occur on top a constant landscape of cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, auto-rickshaws, people, dogs and cows, locked in a perpetual game of chicken.
I tried making some movies, but like all thing spontaneous, the most striking events happen when your camera is not on. Still, I managed to find you YouTube videos that help give a sense of what is is like here. Watch at your own peril!
Typical Traffic at a Typical Intersection in India:
Tutorial: How to Cross a Street in India:
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