Being in India, more specifically Mumbai, for a few days now, I can say that India is quite some cultural change / challenge for me. Things are just so different here from the countries I have previously traveled and it takes some time and understanding to get used to the Indian way of living.
Especially the poverty of a huge amount of people gives a very different perspective on the everyday challenges in western countries. Here people live in huge slums and on the streets, under bridges and sleep under open sky. I have not seen so much hardship in a single place yet, and I have only seen the entrances to the slums from the main roads. Turning away little children begging for money makes you feel very guilty.
Despite the poverty, the other shock is the apparent lack of organization in most parts of life here – at least for my German eyes. There don’t seem to be rules and if there are they are not obeyed. Traffic is the most obvious example.
Some buses don’t stop here. They slow down and people are jumping off and in the buses. I have seen that in old movies, but it still seems to help speed things up around here. Traffic lights and street markings are mere recommendation or only suggestions around here. Cars run over red lights, drive on the opposite side of the streets and cross from left to right lane in an instant.
Wherever there is a gap in between the other cars, the Indian driver will find and fill it, accompanied with a good amount of honking. In general you get the impression that the horn is the most useful and most used device in a vehicle around here and it is the choice of expressing your intentions on the road. You overtake: horn, someone cuts your way: horn, you approach an intersection: horn, the guy in front of you does a U-turn right on the streets: well you guess…
More impressions from my Mumbai sightseeing to follow in another post…
