There and Back Again, A Luggage Tale

Driving in India is crazy. The lines designating lanes are really more of a suggestion and a formality than an actual structure to be followed. Really that sums up driving in general. In the West, we have been trained to function out of designated structure. We stay in our lanes and follow all traffic lights, etc. In all things, we are taught to first “know the rules.” Not so much in India. Here, movement is based on the movement of others around you. Keep in mind of course that most vehicles here are small cars and motorcycles and bikes (much unlike the behemoths we Americans tend to favor). Traffic is constantly in motion and horns are used to help one identify where others are around them. The flow seems immensely chaotic to those of us used to highly defined rules of engagement, but as a whole, it is a beautiful motion that is really impressive.

I had experienced this motion by car when getting picked up at the airport and delivered to the Home, but today was a bit different. I went into New Delhi today to pick up my luggage which had finally been recovered, but since I didn’t have a car, the method of transportation was an auto rickshaw. These tiny little three wheelers are really the taxis of India (along with their bicycle counterparts) and have replaced the traditional rickshaws which were pulled by people running (great little aside: the “autos“ can run on either gasoline or propane along with many of the cars here in India). They don’t have seat belts or any real sense of safety (Mom, start breathing again), and compared to some of the trucks we’re little more than a bug about to get squashed, but the city is full of them and they are really quite useful to anybody who needs to get around and doesn’t have a vehicle.

So really the good news is I got my luggage (yay!) and the ride of my life to boot. There will definitely be more fun rides to come (Erin start working on those nerves of steel)...