Random Observations by Cor

Chalta Hai

It’s just amazing sometimes:

You scream and yell at someone, because you’re frustrated, they don’t understand you, they do something stupid, or whatever – and the next instance they’ll ask “Can I get you a cup of tea”?

All teenagers come a pinch your kid’s cheeks, smile their big white-toothed and honestly sweet smiles at your children and ask their names.

You ask for directions on the road and everyone will try and help you, nobody turns away from you – no matter what they are doing, whether they are in a hurry or not.

Service at business hotels is very good, helpful and friendly - yet you will be checking in with a clerk at the reception and someone behind you will step in front of you and try to get their affairs taken care of first. This same scene is repeated anywhere you go.

If there is one foot of space between your car and the one ahead of you, some bike or car or bulloock cart, or auto-rickshaw or pedestrian will try to occupy that space – so you better inch your own car ahead, so that you don’t get pushed to the back of the pack all the time.

Cars (4 wheelers) and motorbikes (2 wheelers) honk their horns at will; honking a horn is not offensive, it is defensive; it tells people “I am here, don’t run into to me” – so you hear honking horns ALL the time, often for no reason at all. My wife jokes that her brother honks at trees.

Grid lock happens frequently (literally), even when a policeman is directing traffic. He may allow one lane of vehicles go until they fill up the entire intersection. When that’s done the other lanes of traffic try to get around the vehicles blocking the intersection, and before you know it the entire intersection is stuck. To be fair to the policeman, most drivers ignore his commands.