and then this one time...

Day 12 – Friday, April 7 – Horn 'OK' Please

• There are actually cows in the street! They are not leashed, there is no cow bell. And I was told that they know how to find their way home.
• For the first day, I saw zero dogs. And then the second day and onwards, there have been stray dogs everywhere! And they even know how to cross the street!
• Because women are still wearing the traditional dress that includes skirts, it is common for women to be riding sideways on motor bikes. Families also travel by motor bike, so a family of 4 will be travelling on the bike (Dad driving, Mum behind holding the younger child, and the older child sitting in front of the Dad on the bike, or standing (depending on the bike)). So dangerous!
• Traffic is busy like everyone has prepared me for. But once you figure out what people are doing, you get the hang of what’s going on. It’s just literally a result of volume and various modes of transportation (i.e. people walking, bikes, motorcycles, dogs, cows, etc.). And it’s all about each person trying to go on their own path. It’s madness :)
• Honks are ok here… actually they’re encouraged. Most of the trucks have “Horn ‘OK’ Please” on the back. (Sidenote: One of my colleagues' husband owns the brand of t-shirts named "Tantra", which makes comments on Indian society in a witty way. One of the t-shirts says "Horny 'OK' Please".) You have to know what a certain horn means. For example, short ones usually mean, “look out”, or “on your left”. A long one without a break means, “I’m coming through, and I’m not stopping for anything!” Nitin commented that on a drive to the office, the driver must have used his horn more often than we use our horn in Canada in a year.
• A Corolla is considered a high end car here, ‘cause it is “large”. Sweet! I own a high end car!
• Doors open both ways on both sides. Push or pull. And there are lots of people all over the place to open doors for you.
• In the office, we have pantry “boys” who bring us (masala) chai, coffee, tea, water, sandwiches, biscuits… anything you want!
• The city is promoting being power smart and saving electricity, as they’re short on power.
• I’ve had so much food—food I don’t even know the name of. Murgh, aloo gobi, avocados! Baby corn wrapped in crispy spinach. And dhai poori—yum!Found an early episode of “Lost” on tv. Only watched a bit, ‘cause I was really scared! It was good, but I had to turn off the tv. Heehee.

Pictures on the route to the hotel from work.

And of course, the "Horn 'OK' Please".

posted by LZ @ 12:15 PM