The art of NOT getting hit by a motorized vehicle in Bangalore …

There are many things that hit you when you arrive in Bangalore directly from Chicago – the different culture, the different language, the food, the different feel in the air – but hopefully a car, motorcycle, or an auto-rickshaw are NOT among the things that (literally) hit you…

First off, for all of you people who take driving on the right side of the road for granted, think again before coming to India . The Brits left their mark on almost everything you can think of during their rule in India , and of course, road rules are no exception. The question of does Indians actually follow the rules, is a completely different one. While Indian drivers are “supposed” to drive on the left side of the road, that is not always the case, especially in Bangalore . If it appears (“appears” is a key word here) that there is nothing coming the other way, many progressively thinking drivers (the majority of which reside in Bangalore ) chose to simply drive in the opposite line in order to avoid the heavy traffic in their line. Of course, things can become very extreme in a very short period of time, when for example, suddenly a huge TATA truck (TATA is like GM in the States, Lada in Russia, and Volvo in Sweden – i.e. India’s national brand for cars and trucks) carrying 40 people in its back magically appears from around the corner and speeds up towards the small auto-rickshaw you are riding in. The seemingly surprised rickshaw driver sounds his horn, which in reality sounds more like a broken dog whistle. In response, the TATA driver sounds his horn, which sounds more like an anti-aircraft attack alarm. By the way, remember, that all this happens in a 10-15 seconds time frame…The rickshaw driver, like a true Sandra Bullock in “Speed”, slams on the gas pedal (not on the breaks) and with the speed of light “plugs” the little three-wheeler into the right traffic lane. Phew. If you ever practiced any type of extreme sports (I haven’t), you probably have a slight idea what a moment like this does to your stomach and to your imagination…Of course, this is just a tiny example of all the exiting things Bangalorean traffic has to offer to its participants. The role of the TATA truck is too often played by an angry cow (or a bull, which is even worst). It is not uncommon to see a family of four or five riding on a two person motorcycle. Some of Bangalore ’s bicycle daredevils kick it up a notch by attaching themselves with their hands to a speeding auto-rickshaw (the speeding auto-rickshaw is by itself a pretty exiting thing to experience) and than releasing themselves into the congested traffic, trying not to hit anything or anyone in the whole process.

Traffic lights. All over the world, or at least in its western parts, red means stop, green means go, and yellow means something in between. Well, in Bangalore , red, green and yellow, all mean GO. It’s very important that you learn when red really means stop, and when it means go (especially if you are a pedestrian). The rule of thumb is (as explained by a well educated and experienced rickshaw driver), in the morning and in the late evening (until about 9 a.m. and after 10 p.m.) everything means GO. Of course, you have to use your head and eyes and really sense when to stop and when to go. The art is in reading the other driver’s mind. What is his/hers next step…will they go, or will they stop, will they turn right, or left. That’s why, it is very important that you use your hands as much as possible when you cross the street (as a pedestrian). You MUST let the drivers know if you are actually going to cross the street, or if you’re just simply thinking about it. It’s a lot like chess, except that it’s a little more physical in case of a chess-mate.

Traffic control police is indeed present in Bangalore . There are quite few major intersections in the city lacking traffic lights that really benefit from the presence of a traffic controller (especially in peak traffic times). Dare you not to obey the traffic controller, and you risk being beaten with a wooden stick – traffic justice Indian style, baby. White people, don’t worry, they don’t beat up whites…they just politely smile at you and make a gesture with their hand that what you did was wrong and you should be more careful next time. Oh, by the way, the beating up part was a little over-exaggerated…nevertheless, I’ve actually seen this happen, but it is more the exception, rather than the rule.

Pollution is evidently a major problem, which seems not to be among the firs points in anybody’s agenda in Bangalore . When I go to work early in the morning (around 6-7 a.m.) it is somewhat tolerable. You can still slightly taste the heavy metals from the burned fuels in your lungs, but nothing to worry about (unless, of course you have Asthma, or any other respiratory disease/problem…if that’s the case, I would recommend that you stay where you are right now and don’t even think about coming to Bangalore). At night, when the city has experienced 8 or more hours of heavy fuel burning and the smog over the city is so heavy and dense, it looks like a dark-grey blanket on the sky, taking a breath feels like breathing out of a truck’s exhaust pipe (even thou I haven’t done this, I can very safely say that the feeling is very close to that). A good way to “clean” the air you’re breathing at night is to wear a wet cloth with you and simply put it over your mouth until you are in a place away from the traffic where you can safely take a deep breath and continue experiencing !ncredible !NDIA.

With its phenomenal economic growth in the past 5-10 years, and it’s phenomenally corrupted city government, Bangalore has unsurprisingly missed the opportunity to upgrade its infrastructure (including roads and everything that has to do with traffic). The result is an ever increasing traffic and consistent maintenance of the status quo of the deteriorating road infrastructure. Many Indian people share their thoughts that if the government doesn’t do something about the roads in Bangalore , the title “Silicon Valley of India” might very soon be lost to cities like Chennai and Mumbai. While many Western and Indian companies truly benefit from the cheap labor cost and the high concentration of computer geeks in Bangalore , the infrastructure problem is beginning to hurt the bottom line for many of them. The day of Bangalore turning into the American Detroit due to “intra-country offshoring” caused by poor city infrastructure (my term for the process of companies moving out of a certain city to a different city in the same country) might not be too far away.

Anyway, if nothing else, participating in the traffic in Bangalore is never passive. Even when you are the passenger, you still look out and provide valuable intelligence to the driver who might’ve just missed an approaching car. As they say, there’s never a dull moment in Bangalore , and this applies more than anything to the traffic!

Cheers to all of you until the next time.