Lane lines are merely a suggestion here in India as the common belief is you not only own the space your car takes up, but all the air surrounding it. People speed through busy intersections, highly trafficked roads and up narrow mountain passageways all with a "HONK! HONK!" and then it is understood that you are going to be passed by said honking vehicle. Not only is honking used for passing, it is used for letting people know you are coming. You are coming around a curve, you are coming into an area where people are walking...you exist! You matter! Honk honk honk! We live on a quiet (by India standards) mountain road. People walk up and down everyday to and from work. We have cars, scooters, trucks and the occasional bus on this road. I think the planner who designed our roads up here dropped a piece of spaghetti on the floor and thought to himself "Looks good!" There are so many twists and turns and slim passageways that more people are pulled over sick here than the Hana Highway on Maui. When a car come to a blind curve, it honks. When it needs to (very narrowly) pass another car, it honks. When groups of school children are walking and it is coming up on them, it honks. Honk honk honk! So Oliver and I steel ourselves for the honking each time we leave the house. We get to a curve, Honk! A car is surprised to see us, Honk! As if I was planning on jumping out in front of them! Yesterday I had a dark cloud over my head. I have not seen the sun in a week and a half and the rain, clouds, humidity, dampness was really...bringing...me...down... So I was grouchy when we left home and felt drizzle coming down on us. We, of course, heard honking as we walked down the road for lunch. Then we got to the one straightaway our road has. We were about halfway between curves, completely visible, and I could hear a car coming behind us. I knew it could see us, we were on the only straight part of the road! But then, just as it came up behind us, HONK! HONK! HONK! I lost it. I spun around and screamed: "I hear you! We ALLLLLLL hear you!" My outburst did nothing but provide comic relief to the dozens of men packed in, on and hanging off the back of this Jeep. Look at the crazy white woman with a baby yelling at us! Humph.
What is different here, when compared to Chicago driving, is there is zero road rage here. People will speed up to try and make it through a narrow part when they see another car coming and they often meet in the middle, stuck. In this situation, it is necessary for one of the cars to back up and if there are cars behind those stuck cars, they need to back up too. This never causes screaming, obscene gestures or threats. People just go along their way. Honk Honk Honk! I have seen fender-benders, little nicks here and there and everyone just nods and continues on their way. Even cars that seem to be cut off, just give a honk and wait until they are able to proceed.
Road rage or no road rage, we need to move to a place with a honking ordinance. It's beginning to grate on my nerves. The sun needs to come out soon. xo
No one ever honks in Madison.
ReplyDelete{Ok, that's a lie.}
{But not a big lie.}
People honk very little in Madison.
Truth.
Move here.
xo
Trying! :)
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