Raphael and I visited outdoor markets (bazaars).
Traffic in this country is very interesting. Take Mumbai. 18 million people in this city. Many cars. And a LOT more pedestrians. Traffic lights? Not so many. Most intersections, like so many aspects of Indian society, are not controlled.
"Public safety" means something different here. People are constantly taking their lives in their hands when they cross the street.
It is sort of like a game of dodge ball. Instead of dodging balls, one dodges vehicles and people. And, unlike dodge ball, if the dodge is successful, everyone wins. If not, everyone involved loses. But the magnitude of the loss is in inverse relationship to the amount of armor you are wearing. At the top of the food chain are trucks and buses, then regular cars (including taxis which constitute a significant percentage of the traffic), then auto-rickshaws and motorcycles, then rickshaws and bikes, then pedestrians. There's no right of way for pedestrians - "right of way" just goes to the larger vehicle.
Because most intersections are not controlled, people just cross anywhere and they have to dodge the cars that barrel down as fast as they can. Drivers and pedestrians engage in behavior that would seem completely nuts in the U.S. - about every 2 minutes you see something that in the U.S. would provoke a "you wouldn't believe what I saw someone do on the road today..." conversation.
Rickshaws are grownup tricycles with a 2 seat bench in the back - the driver pedals and carries passengers. More common are auto-rickshaws, a 3-wheel covered motortricycle that can take 3 passengers (even 4 if someone squeezes in with the driver, sharing his seat).
One must always bargain for a taxi or auto-rickshaw ride. If a taxi driver tells me the cost will be 50 rupees (about $1) I risk Becky's scorn if I don't reply - "30 rupees."
The outdoor markets in Mumbai are a wild scene. We saw a Hindu demonstration against the terrorist attacks - a bunch of young men in matching T-shirts waving fists in the air and shouting slogans in Hindi.
Hindu rally against terrorism
Feelings were still raw throughout the city. It was not uncommon to see impromptu, hand-made signs or banners denouncing terrorism.
Impromptu street signs denouncing the Mumbai attacks
The neighborhood is mixed and we saw a number of Hindu temples and mosques. Outside a mosque was a declaration against terrorism, signed by prominent Muslims.
India images wouldn't be complete without at least one cow - one doesn't see that many cows in this city of 18 million people. Unlike cows we saw elsewhere, wandering aimlessly or just hanging around, this was a beast of burden in the Mumbai bazaar.
In the afternoon, flew to Jaipur, capital of Rajasthan. Rajasthan is desert terrain - as I entered the city, it felt more like Central Asia, reminded me a bit of Kazakhstan. Passed camels, donkeys, and other beasts of burden in the road (Jaipur is a city of 3 million people).
Hotel is lovely, unassuming, and feels very Rajasthani.
I heard all about their various host families - I think Becky lucked out. Some of them didn't have quite such a good situation.
It's often said how ignorant Americans are of other countries, but we assume everyone else knows all about us. India is very far from here, and knowledge of American, even Western history is uneven there. For example, Becky's host dad was surprised to hear that Obama is the first African-American president - he thought Lincoln was. One of Becky's friends had a huge argument with her host sister who refused to believe that Lincoln was white.
Another friend's host dad is an admirer of Hitler. While that is shocking, bear in mind this guy has no knowledge of the Holocaust. He's not like a neo-nazi who admires Hitler for having murdered millions of Jews and others. He had no idea. He just admires Hitler for being a "strong leader" - or so he says. On the other hand, it's not hard to find Mein Kampf in bookstores in India - we saw one in an airport bookstore - and Mein Kampf is pretty explicit about Hitler's racist views.
Becky's friends had a bad experience in Agra. Unfortunately, Agra was totally fogged in the morning they were there - so they couldn't see the Taj Mahal when it was right in front of their noses. Hope that doesn't happen to us...
Becky's friends and (before we arrived) travel companions.
Trudy, Kelsey, Emma, Becky, John
1. lucy's host-dad actually knew exactly what Hitler did and still liked him... but that was an anomaly.
ReplyDelete2. why do i look so short in this picture??
3. to me, the traffic in mumbai seemed well-behaved - much more regulated than traffic in madurai, and a lot fewer cows chilling in the middle of giant intersections.
i rode a bicycle for most of the semester. at first i was terrified, but after awhile i came to appreciate the indian system. it involved a lot of dinging of my bell - instead of dinging or honking being seen as an aggressive action, it was merely a way to assert my existence. since people don't really look behind them while driving, it is necessary to ding before passing (which can be very close since lane lines are a mere suggestion). when i got home and rode my bike places, i really missed the bell.
over the course of the semester, i only got in two small collisions (knocked over an old lady crossing the street, and knocked over a man on a motorcycle), but played chicken with autos on numerous occasions. and once thought i was about to get run over by a bus.