Driving in India

Driving in India is not for the faint of heart. Let me rephrase that: Riding in a vehicle in India is not for the faint of heart. Driving in India should be left only to Indians. It is an organized chaos that must be experienced to be believed. Like an intricate dance, cars, buses, rickshaws, mopeds with entire families on board, fruit carts, camel drawn wagons, and cows all share the road. The painted lane markers are largely ignored - you drive where ever you can go the fastest. The yellow divider line is merely a guideline - if you can more efficiently and easily pass by moving into oncoming traffic, by all means cross over. The horn is used constantly - alerting whomever or whatever is in your way that you are coming through. Adding to this confusion for me is the fact that Indians drive on the left side of the road. Somehow it all works - almost beautifully.

Our first day in India started with a 3 hour car ride - talk about baptism by fire. It was our first glimpse of India in the daylight and it was riveting. The sights, the sounds, the pollution. It was overwhelming. Despite the fact that we were all tired from our journey no one could close their eyes. There was just too much to see. It was like a never ending movie playing out side our windows. Everything was new and fantastic. The sheer volume of people lining the streets, the countless fruit vendors, the colors, the cows, the remarkable traffic pattern. Everything new, everything unbelievable and exciting.

We've been in country for 2 weeks now and each time we travel by auto (local vernacular for auto rickshaw) it is like the first time all over again. Hair raising excitement as we weave effortlessly between buses and trucks often passing with mere inches to spare. Evan loves riding the autos. He sits mesmerized occasionally pointing out tractors, cows and trains. Eli too seems to enjoy these rides. He rides silently in the Bjorn through all of the excitement and honking, often falling asleep. How anyone could sleep through an auto ride is beyond me, but I guess living with Evan has been good training for India.

This is a video Pat shot from our moving car, which he also posted on his blog. It is a mere glimpse of the excitment of riding in India.