Driving in Delhi

7/2/06

After landing in Delhi, we were picked up and driven to the ISKCON temple (Very impressive. For those who have not experienced driving in Delhi, it is best described as absolute chaos with a high degree of organization. As much sense that makes (or doesn’t in this case), it is the best way to describe it. People randomly weave through lanes, cut people off, etc…, but everyone seems to go by the same rules, and well…it somehow works. Finding your way around is another story. Unless you have an extremely good understanding of the roads (our driver didn’t), you must constantly pull over and ask people. Sounds simple at first, but it gets much trickier. Some people give you good directions, while others…well how can I best put it…don’t. Because of this, you must make an immediate decision on whether to listen or not (any hesitation by the direction-giver, and you probably shouldn’t listen…for your own good). Amazingly we eventually arrived at all of our destinations (The key word here is eventually….) We even got pulled over once (I didn’t think it was possible considering the chaos…see earlier) Our driver made an illegal u-turn, I’ll admit I did see the no u-turn sign and we tried to mention it to him but…well…he did it any way. Driving to Vrindavan that night was an adventure as well, this same driver must have taken us in circles before we finally found our way out of Delhi. Did I mention he got a ticket when he was pulled over? (200 Rupees, he tried to bribe the officer, but he wouldn’t go for it. He might have anyway because he disappeared from view and came back.) Well that is just the tip of the iceberg about driving in Delhi, although I’m positive Ernest Hemingway himself could not do it justice.

Chaitanya