Comments on: Confluence on the Roads: Thoughts about American, Indian, and German Traffic

By: Calling Traffic in Pune is a Misnomer « Gori Rajkumari

Calling Traffic in Pune is a Misnomer « Gori Rajkumari — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:33:11 +0000

[...] reading a blog on Gorigirl.com about driving etiquette in other countries. The blog, entitled Confluence on the Roads: Thoughts about American, Indian, and German Traffic brought back memories (very fond ones) of my own visit to India. I thought it would be fun to [...]

By: jijibean

jijibean — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:23:06 +0000

I haven't read all of your blog posts yet so I don't know if you have seen this. My brother in-law sent me this in an email and your pictures of the Indian and German traffic reminded me of this. I found a website that basically shows the same thing. It's depictions of Eastern vs. Western cultural differences. Liu Young who was born in China and educated in Germany made the comparisons. I'm not sure I totally agree with all of them, but it was an interesting anyway, and I thought you might like it.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2194633/EastWest-by-L...

By: CaliforniaTransplant

CaliforniaTransplant — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:16:27 +0000

I’m going to India sometime next year to meet some of M’s family. I plan to bring a blindfold, earplugs, and vodka so that I may survive these infamous car rides.

By: NeoKalypso

NeoKalypso — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:29:56 +0000

Um, when I was in the back seat of a cab in India I basically had to close my eyes and not look. My heart valves would have aged like 15 years if I would have kept looking out at what seemed to be a speeding death maze!

By: mocroidh

mocroidh — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:41:46 +0000

We’re going to India in December, and I think I’ll just have to close my eyes when we’re driving anywhere…I’ll be blissfully ignorant of how close we’re coming to certain death!

By: D

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:16:25 +0000

Popping in quickly to say that I showed the video of the Indian driving to G last night, and his reaction was “Yeah, that’s pretty much how it is. You’ll see soon enough.” (We’re hoping to go in January.) He was amused by how crazy I thought it was.

And you really have me wanting some Swedish meatballs now…

By: Mallika

Mallika — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:16:10 +0000

Oh Ikea. Invariably, I’m in there with a throbbing hangover dying for the meatballs. Talking about traffic, I tried learning how to drive in Calcutta and urm, I still can’t.

By: Quizman

Quizman — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:35:22 +0000

heh.

By now you must be familiar with Coen Jeukens’ famous article on driving in India. This is one of the thousands of blog that has posted his article
http://www.thejackol.com/2005/11/18/driving-in-india/

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:33:27 +0000

Nice post! My husband forwarded that same famous “India traffic” video for me to watch before we were there for the first time — I think to prepare me.
Too bad NOTHING could have prepared me for the traffic in the rural areas, which I found much more frightening than in Mumbai. At least in a big city, in so much traffic, our driver’s speed was SOMEWHAT kept in check. But when we were driving from Agra to Delhi, our driver decided to drive on the WRONG SIDE of a divided highway for MILES, at top speed, so that we could make a right-turn into a truckstop that he knew was coming up somewhere…
Even worse, he didn’t do this by driving on the side of the road. No, he drove straight down the middle, and, as cars came directly at us, he would move over. I admit, that was my *only* freak-out while in India. Eventually, he went back to the correct lane “because of the lady.”

By: AL

AL — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:38:07 +0000

(IKEA. (big, big sigh) Only after moving to alaska, can one can truly appreciate IKEA…)

You really pegged the traffic patterns of India! But you forgot the “language” all the drivers use there… “Beep, beep ->[hi there - please move over] Beep, beep, BEEEEP [im coming into your lane; make room!]; BEEEP, BEEEEEP [i'm 1/2 in your lane, don't hit me!]. Or at least, that’s what it sounded like to our american ears. The beeping horns in India are not at all like those in the U.S. The U.S ones sound a tad upset ["#&#*!]. Whereas, my brother & I found that the ones in India are just …well, another sub-dialect of the country. :}

Thanks for your blogs! Brings back many lovely memories of our stay there and the Indian culture in general!
And good wishes on the intercultural intricacies you and Aditya are facing – sounds like you two are doing a great “job” of it.
AL

By: Pale_Desi

Pale_Desi — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:40:55 +0000

Great post! I love your artwork! Hehe i’m way to “out of it” to be able to drive in India ever!i get nervous in Southern California trying not to run over the cyclists in the bike line. Even worse when I’m on my cell phone… ack but lucky for other motorists I’ll have to switch to “Handsfree only” in California starting July 1st….

By: Kitten

Kitten — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:21:56 +0000

Gods I wish there was an IKEA closer to us than Chicago!!!