Daily Archives: February 18, 2009

Driving in India: Much has been written about the hazards of driving in India.  That vehicles and people go wherever they please, in whichever direction they want, whenever it suits them.  That no one pays attention. That there are no rules. I don’t find that to be true.  In fact, after 14 days on the road,  I’ve discerned a certain lingua franca used to communicate what one’s intentions are to everyone else out there.  The principle means of communication is the horn.  Sexy Beast has a particularly melodious horn, which goes shoo ba loo ba doo, and is a pleasure to use.  Buses have horns that sound like a submarine about to submerge:  ah oooo gah.  And big trucks have tiny, twittering horns that sound very feminine:  tweedle deedle dee.  The rickshaws squawk and bicycles go brrrriiiinnnggg.  When all of this gets going, it’s quite a cacophony of sounds.  Everything moves according to who honks longest.  If you’re coming up behind someone and intend to keep moving into their space, you honk.  If you’re next to someone and are going to go by them, you honk.  If you want someone to move over, you honk.  

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