All right, so I'm pretty sure I said that the traffic is crazy, but THE TRAFFIC IS CRAZY. It has been hard adjusting to constant horns and swerving in and out of traffic. The streets are so loud and crowded. Words cannot describe the amount and craziness of this traffic. Here, scooters are the prevalent mode of transportation for people over age 16 (that is when you get your scooter license, car license at 18). Otherwise, for families, there are small cars and vans. The "Regular Joe," (like me) is always able to catch a rickshaw. Just on my five-minute ride in the rickshaw to school, I see probably 300 scooters and at least 100 cars. There are cars and people everywhere! The traffic is very different from Owatonna, and even from Minneapolis or St. Paul. I used to think that the traffic in the cities was bad; but compared to this, that is child's play. On Sunday, 14 August, my family and I went to Mumbai to send off my sister Aishwarya. [For those of you who don't know, Aishwarya, my host sister, is spending the year as an exchange student in Northfield, MN]. Whenever my family has to travel to Mumbai, they always hire a driver; even though the traffic is busy in Pune, it is ten times worse in Mumbai. Too bad for me, but the driver that hired did not give us a very "smooth" ride. By now, I was pretty adjusted to the jerks of stick shift vehicles and the usual swerve into the other lane to pass and the short stops to avoid accidents. However, this trip was all that and more. To start out, my stomach wasn't feeling the most comfortable when we got in the car. [Some of you can probably tell where this is going already]. The driver would constantly accelerate rapidly and then have to slam on the brakes. Not to mention him swerving back and forth through three lanes of traffic. The ride to Mumbai is about three hours long, so my stomach was not in a good state. When we finally reached Mumbai, the driving just got worse. With more traffic than the highway, there were stops and accelerations within seconds of each other; jerking back and forth like some amusement park ride gone bad.
I started to get the feeling. The one you get when you are about to vomit, yeah, that one. I didn't have a bucket or a bag or anything to use so I tried to roll down the window, but it was locked. I couldn't open my mouth to say that the window was locked, because words wouldn't have been the only things that came out. Suddenly it happened, but luckily, I was able to control most of it. Aishwarya quickly told the driver to roll down the window so I could get rid of it. My stomach felt so good afterwards, but I felt horrible that I had vomited.
The driver was not at all happy with be for detailing part of his car with my DNA. I showed no remorse however, because, after all it was his fault that I had the feeling and he did lock the windows. Luckily, we stopped at a relative's house for dinner and I had the chance to clean up. The driver glared at me when we got back in the car to go to the airport, but I just ignored it. I wasn't too happy with him either. We finally made it to the airport and I was able to get some fresh air as we all said goodbye to Aishwarya. It was emotional for me even. She was the first sister I ever had and saying goodbye to her was like saying goodbye to my family all over again.
The ride back was a lot better than the ride there because I was actually able to sleep and no focus on the terribly rash driving. When we got home, about 4:00 in the morning, I was so happy to be on solid ground again. I went straight to bed and was able to sleep in because there was a holiday from school for India's 65th Independence Day. Well, now that I got that out of my system, I should probably talk about what this post is actually entitled. Cows in the Street. Not to mention the beggars, dogs, and my personal favorite, elephants. It's so odd to see full-grown cows roaming city streets. Sometimes they are off on their own going through the garbage looking for something to eat. Other times there is a whole herd of cattle being lead through the streets by their owners. Traffic jams are caused because the cows don't like to follow the rules of the road and, from what I can tell, they have the "right of way." You can tell that cows are near from either the sound of the bells around their necks, or the smell and views of cow pies on the streets and sidewalks.
Another common animal seen in the street are dogs. Much like in my college, the stray dogs roam the streets looking for food or a place to get out of the rain. They run in and out of traffic causing even more stops that are sudden. The dogs like to stay around people with food. They follow anyone with the scent of any meal. Again, sadly, the dogs are not the healthiest, have matted and dirty fur and probably numerous fleas and other small insects living on them. If you see a random dog in the street, STAY AWAY.
Onto the beggars. There are so many of them. Some really old, some really young, and others of all the ages in between. They are on the sidewalks, on school campuses, and in the middle of the road at intersections. The traffic lights here have wait times of up to 95 seconds. This gives beggars the perfect opportunity to walk down the rows of cars, scooters, and rickshaws asking for money from the drivers and passengers. They knock on windows and tap on shoulders to get your attention and then hold out their empty hands and look at you with puppy dog eyes trying to convince you to give. During my first encounter with beggars on the street, I had no idea what was happening and thought they were crazy to be in the middle of street with traffic as bad as it is. Luckily, my family was in a car at the time, so my father immediately rolled up all the windows and said to ignore them.
The beggars on the sidewalks are the worst out of the lot. Especially for me, with my fair skin and light hair. They immediate target me, thinking I will have money and give to them. I was just walking down the street looking at some trinkets in shops with my friends when one can up to me and started tapping me. I ignored her as I was taught, but she didn't stop. She actually grabbed my arm and tried to turn me around to look at her. My friend that was with me yelled at her, "No, you don't touch him." Now thinking back on the event, I just laugh, but it was scary. My friends told me to start walking further down the street. I did as I was told, but the girl (only about 13) started walking behind me holding out her bowl for me to put change. I swear she followed me for a good 30 yards before I finally was able to enter a store and she went to find her next victim.
You also have to be careful on the sidewalk for the beggars that try to put kunku (a red dot) on your forehead. You are strolling along and they just put it on your forehead, and then expect you to pay them. There have been numerous times when I had to duck out of the way so they "didn't get me." They also like to follow me. I cannot wait until I at least get a tan and am able to blend in a little bit more. I am also thinking about dying my hair a darker brown so I don't get the daily stares and double takes.
Finally, the elephants! I have only seen three so far, but still, it is an amazing sight to see an elephant walking down a street full of traffic. I was lucky enough to be walking one time that I saw one, so I got some good pictures that will be put on my facebook album shortly. They are huge, and you can get close enough to touch them; it is amazing. The other day I saw an elephant that was giving food to his rider. The rider bought some fruit from a stand on the sidewalk, and the elephant used his trunk to give the fruit to his rider. Then the rider put money in the trunk and the elephant paid the seller! It was so cool to see. I really hope to ride one while I am here.
