An Examination of Driving in India

It is approaching one week since I left the USA to start this crazy, exciting adventure and so much has happened!  I am writing this in my apartment, and it is as empty as I have ever seen it.  Right now there are only five people here: two grandmas, one grandpa, one cleaning lady, and myself.  The rest of my family left for the Mumbai airport to send off Niraj to the US.  This took me back a week to when I was driving to the airport with my family to come here, and I couldn't help but miss my family and feel sad for my host family to say goodbye.  I knew exactly what Niraj was going through.  It is weird for me to say goodbye to him because I just got here!  However, in our short time together he has done so much for me in driving me around, asking everyone whether my food has nuts, and registering me at Symbiosis.  I know he will have a successful exchange in Rochester, but I hope he finds time to go see wonderful Northfield.  He is writing a blog of his experiences this year and you can read about them at nirajrajput.blogspot.com.  I'm glad I still have Akash, I'm not sure what I would do without his energetic, playful attitude.  He is truly like a younger brother to me, but one who teaches me about his own culture and who has promised to teach me Marathi.  Having him here has made my transition much easier and I know this will be true of my whole exchange.


With my family gone, I do not have much to do because I am not trusted to go around the city on my own yet (and rightfully so; I have a terrible sense of direction and can't communicate with half the people here).  This means I have time to blog, so I will use this opportunity to explain driving in India.


I can hardly explain to you how crazy the driving here seems at first.  To give you a visual, watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjrEQaG5jPM.  I had seen this before coming here and thought it an exaggeration or a worst case scenario, but I have seen much worse in my short time here.  Traffic is truly one of the biggest differences between the US and India and is one of the easiest things to notice.  While in the US we have many rules about driving as well as unspoken courtesies, here, as long as you get to where you were going I guarantee you broke no rules.  Here is a list of differences:

1. No seat belts are required for anyone other than the front seats and many cars do not even have them.  This is difficult for me, because I have been taught from birth to buckle the instant I get in I car and now it has become a habit that I can easily repeat in my sleep.
2. The horns are CONSTANT.  There is never a silent moment on the streets because someone is always honking.  The sound travels up to my room and I can hear them now, and when I am trying to go to sleep.  However, the intent associated with the horn is also different.  While in the US we honk when we are mad or someone is doing something wrong, here they honk to tell someone they are there.  Because of the lack of rules, there are no expectations for what others will do and so the horn communicates your intentions or to make yourself known.  People honk if they are going to pass you, if they turn on a blind intersection, if you are in their way, or simply to make you pay attention.  
3. They drive on the left side of the road.
4. Lanes are not rules, they are guidelines.  While there may only be two lanes, there may be up to five or six vehicles in a line at one time.  People cut in and out of lanes without regard to the painted lines.  This includes the midline-people often cross into oncoming traffic to pass a slow-moving vehicle in front of them despite the hoard of people driving right toward them.
5. The majority of drivers use two wheelers.  The streets are filled with them, and so are the parking spots.  These are much easier for driving in crowded streets and weaving in and out of traffic.  They allow the driver to fit into already cramped spaces, and are easier to maneuver around other vehicles. Four wheeled cars are much too bulky and are only practical in rain or extreme heat.
6. Right of way is not a thing.  To get anywhere in under an hour, you must be assertive and command your way, often driving straight through moving traffic.  The only thing that saves you from being killed every two minutes is that you never break 30 kph (18.6 mph), and then only rarely.  This is what allows the entire system to work, because you are going slow enough to stop when someone suddenly cuts in front of you.  

Though this is not an exhaustive list, it covers many of the major differences of driving here and allows you all to understand what I (semi)willingly put myself through several times a day.


I start school at Symbiosis International either tomorrow or the next day, and I look forward to it.  For one, it will provide more structure to my day, and it will also allow me to get out of the house and meet new people.  Due to complications, I have been moved from first year (freshman in college) to 11th standard (grade) which is unfortunate because I am much older than everyone else there and have already completed high school at home.


I have also joined a drumming group which I believe will be playing in a festival soon.  We meet everyday to practice, and I am excited to be doing some sort of music again.  Along with most of the group, I will be playing the dhol, a huge, double-headed drum with a great bass sound.  You strike one side with your hand, and the other with a thick wooden mallet.  The group is very large and the sound created is really cool to hear.  I look forward to learning the song!


This is all the news I have for now, but I expect to have more soon with the start of school, more drum rehearsal, and the arrival of more exchange students.  Namaste!