By Sally Walton
After 31 hours in transit, arriving in Delhi in the moist warm night, I felt
suspended in time. Though there was little traffic at 3 am, I still felt
dismayed that my driver kept swerving into the wrong side of the road.
Finally I remembered that by driving on the left, he was on the correct side
of the road for India.
Observing activity on the road during my three weeks in India was a constant
learning experience. In the U.S.A. we have carpool lanes to encourage more
than one passenger per car. India is way ahead of us. There, it's customary
to have more than one passenger per bicycle! Seeing two or three on a cycle
is common, and up to five, including small children, can be sighted wending
their way through traffic, and especially on rural roads. One person cycling
alone seems to be downright extravagant!
And speaking of traffic, don't even think of renting a car and driving it
yourself. If you can afford a car, you can afford a driver. What with
driving on the left, dodging throngs of pedestrians, cyclists, fume-belching
trucks and buses, other cars, cows, bullock carts, goats, chickens, and
dogs, driving the roads of India is not for the faint-of-heart, or the
inexperienced. A European friend said he likes driving in India because even
through driving is officially on the left, he found that in reality you can
drive anywhere there's space.
Leftovers from the British, especially military terminology, also appear on
the signage on the streets and highway. One building is labeled Andra Mess
(an eating establishment), another Consumer Dispute Resolution Board.
If you have specific questions about India, feel free to send me an e-mail.