Nothing quite excites people like honking at traffic signals, especially if it is red. Yeah. It has to be excitement. Nothing else can explain the amount of honking. It makes you feel like tapping gently on their shoulder and saying, "Excuse me... No offence but that is a horn. It is not a weapon to make the vehicles in front of you disappear."
It's inexplicable as to why despite being atleast 5-6 car lengths from the signal do people react so violently at traffic signals! No matter how sensible a person may be otherwise he just seems to be in a different zone altogether. He is the only knowing all the right moves in driving and everyone else is making some inexcusable mistakes. So even if swear words may not be a strict no-no else where they're acceptable if you're driving.
There is one more particularly interesting thing that everyone practices at traffic signals. Despite the fact that the signal is still red, people move their vehicles 6-8 inches ahead as soon as the car in front of you makes that move. They're not going anywhere in reality. But it's a psychological thing that they're now 6 inches closer to their destination and once the signal actually becomes green they'll have to cover a lesser distance!
Sleeping on pavements, walking on the footpaths, working along side the road is a dangerous act you're indulging in especially in Bandra, Marine Drive and should be undertaken at your own risk. You should consider yourself fortunate if you die under the wheels of a BMW or Porsche.
Taxis and rickshaws are in a different class altogether. In Mumbai, all you need to get a taxi or rickshaw license is a domicile certificate for UP, Bihar or Punjab. That is part of the mandatory requirements. Optional requirements like knowledge of traffic rules, driving can and should be strictly ignored!
When you're sitting at the back of one of these things it's like watching a video game. The taxi swinging from lane to lane trying their best to scare pedestrians and other vehicles, rickshaws racing with Skoda Octavias. If you just think for a moment that you're just sitting in your favourite couch and watching TV where they're showing old archives of "world's craziest police chase videos" then you can actually enjoy the ride.
But if you make a mistake of even getting an absurd thought like "He knows his job" or "He's a professional so we can rest assured in the taxi" then you may even believe that Iraq had WMDs. There is no greater foolish assumption than this!
I was in Kolkatta few years back, when it was called Calcutta, and I was amazed at Amby taxis climbing over dividers to cross between the two way traffic. The explanation furnished was that if they wouldn't drive that way they would be stuck in the same spot till evening. Point taken. In a country of over a billion, time has to be more precious than life anyways!
Cheers!
It's inexplicable as to why despite being atleast 5-6 car lengths from the signal do people react so violently at traffic signals! No matter how sensible a person may be otherwise he just seems to be in a different zone altogether. He is the only knowing all the right moves in driving and everyone else is making some inexcusable mistakes. So even if swear words may not be a strict no-no else where they're acceptable if you're driving.
There is one more particularly interesting thing that everyone practices at traffic signals. Despite the fact that the signal is still red, people move their vehicles 6-8 inches ahead as soon as the car in front of you makes that move. They're not going anywhere in reality. But it's a psychological thing that they're now 6 inches closer to their destination and once the signal actually becomes green they'll have to cover a lesser distance!
Sleeping on pavements, walking on the footpaths, working along side the road is a dangerous act you're indulging in especially in Bandra, Marine Drive and should be undertaken at your own risk. You should consider yourself fortunate if you die under the wheels of a BMW or Porsche.
Taxis and rickshaws are in a different class altogether. In Mumbai, all you need to get a taxi or rickshaw license is a domicile certificate for UP, Bihar or Punjab. That is part of the mandatory requirements. Optional requirements like knowledge of traffic rules, driving can and should be strictly ignored!
When you're sitting at the back of one of these things it's like watching a video game. The taxi swinging from lane to lane trying their best to scare pedestrians and other vehicles, rickshaws racing with Skoda Octavias. If you just think for a moment that you're just sitting in your favourite couch and watching TV where they're showing old archives of "world's craziest police chase videos" then you can actually enjoy the ride.
But if you make a mistake of even getting an absurd thought like "He knows his job" or "He's a professional so we can rest assured in the taxi" then you may even believe that Iraq had WMDs. There is no greater foolish assumption than this!
I was in Kolkatta few years back, when it was called Calcutta, and I was amazed at Amby taxis climbing over dividers to cross between the two way traffic. The explanation furnished was that if they wouldn't drive that way they would be stuck in the same spot till evening. Point taken. In a country of over a billion, time has to be more precious than life anyways!
Cheers!
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