Blackburn2Bangalore

I thought it was probably about time I posted something again, although I can’t say I’ve been doing much of interest.

Sudhi has however, decided that his car is in safer hands in my custody rather than keeping it at his house where he is doing construction work. I’m not sure it makes entire sense, but I’m not going to argue. He has decided that I can use the car as much as I want, so long as I pay for the petrol, which is fine by me. To the right is a picture of Sudhi’s little Maruti- Suzuki WagonR in my parking space at my apartment.

So, for that last week or so, I have been driving myself to and from work. It is a welcome relief to getting in a rickshaw every day, but doesn’t make for an entirely stress free journey! I think Bangalore’s traffic can be best described as chaotic. There are traffic rules, of course, but they are not really obeyed. I soon discovered that in order to drive safely, it is necessary to drive like the locals. After a couple of goes, you forget completely about the Highway Code and concentrate completely on avoiding collisions with bikes, rickshaws, cars, buses, lorries, people and the occasional cow. Driving is totally about self survival, you cannot assume that because you have right of way that anyone else will respect that. Quite simply the first person there is the one who claims the right of way. If you want to turn right across a busy road, then you edge your way across the road until you make it to the other side, and you start moving when you can block oncoming traffic safely, ie. if they can stop safely when you pull out in front of them. Several vehicles will often make the same turn at the same time, using each other as a barrier from the oncoming traffic. I have to say, it feels a lot safer doing this when you are driving, as opposed to being a passenger in a rickshaw that pulls out in the path of a bus!

Of course, the Indian’s love to use their horns a lot. A habit I am starting to pick up quite quickly. It is necessary to use your horn to alert other road users of your presence. Many cars have mirrors folded in so they are of no use, and even if they were there is often someone in your blind spot. So the horn is a way of saying “I’m here” and preventing minor collisions. It is also easier to drive with the windows open, so you can hear the traffic better.

I think Jess was hoping that I would decide that driving is too stressful and give up the idea of wanting a car. Unfortunately not. Yesterday I went in to town to meet Andrew and Pete for a drink, so I took a rickshaw, I soon realised why I want a car. Rickshaws are noisy, uncomfortable, and there is often communication difficulties, and that’s just with the honest ones. There are others that refuse to put the meter on and try to charge extortionate rates, or take you the long way round to get a bigger fare, and then there’s always the fact that no two rickshaw meters ever seem to charge the same. All this can lead to arguments and stress, and usually over a ridiculously small amount of money. For example, a couple of weeks ago I got a rick to work, at first the driver didn’t want to put the meter on, but finally agreed to it. When I asked him to take a right turn, to take me the quickest way to work, he refused. This led to him stopping the rick and an argument ensued, I got out and proceeded to flag down another rick. We then got in to a 3 way argument, me and two rick drivers. I was refusing to pay, because he wouldn’t take me the way I wanted, he wanted payment, and the other rick driver was shouting something in Kanada at him. Anyway I agreed to pay Rs10, which was about what that part of the journey would cost as the meter was still showing the minimum fare of Rs12. The other driver then took me to work the way I wanted. Had I let the original driver take me the way he wanted, I would have got there quicker (without an argument), but it would probably have cost me an additional Rs5! All that hassle for a 7 pence saving!