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Disclaimer:
1. The following lines reflect purely my thought. I don't have the privilege of sharing my thoughts with friends or my family members since none are even remotely interested in cars.
2. Some of the things stated are made up, for a little theatrical effect. Largely though, they are my thoughts only.
3. If you find any, and I mean ANY discrepancies or shortcomings in my thought processes, please feel free to point it out to me (in private or public). I always look forward to learn.

Why I love driving in India

Pic source: https://www.facebook.com/IIT.Chronicles/photos_stream

I love driving. It comes to me very naturally. I mastered the art of driving manual cars in a week. I mastered driving an auto in the first day itself when I drove in U.S.. No tutoring. Just read the traffic rules, and I was off. When I say, mastery, I mean in all possible driving situations encountered in normal day to day life. Traffic, slopes, parallel parking etc. I never got the opportunity to drive on a track. Still haven't.

Give me a day with the car, and I will tell you exactly how it will behave in different situations.

I know I am a good driver.

But, a glance over the net will reveal the frustrations which different people feel while driving in this country. Here are just a few of the threads here at team-bhp itself which will give you a general idea what I am talking about:

1. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...situation.html
2. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ndia-pics.html
3. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...i-traffic.html
4. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ng-school.html
5. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ian-roads.html

There is just too much negativity in the air in general. We complain, complain, and then complain some more.



"People in India just don't have basic traffic courtesy. Look at the buffoon driving on the wrong side of the road."

Pic source: http://www.lovepunjab.com/threads/73...ing-wrong-side


"God help this country. These bikers think they own the road. They squeeze through the traffic breaking ORVM's. Today, I saw some of them driving on the footpath when they couldn't have their way on the road. To top it off, when some pedestrians stopped them, they pushed them aside!"

Pic source: http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/c...w/21152646.cms


"This country is going to the dogs. Why can't people just for once in their life stop at a traffic junction and let others go. Everyday, and I mean EVERYDAY, I get stuck in a jam, for 15 mins. If people were even a little disciplined or for that matter if they even stopped to think for a second, everybody would clear that junction in 2 minutes."

Pic source: http://bc9project.blogspot.in/


"God have mercy on us. The devil has come on earth in the form of auto drivers. They drive without a care for themselves or others. They marry early, have a bazillion kids and then don't care for their own lives. They refuse to ply to places they don't want to go, drive like maniacs to places where they accept to go, and then care 2 hoots about their rides which are responsible for their own livelihood."

Pic source: http://dkamath.blogspot.in/2013/05/d...-men-need.html


"Lousy truckers. When will they learn to stop overtaking on slopes, when their vehicles will take a millenia to overtake. I am telling you darling, nothing is going to change this country."

Pic source: http://www.motorindiaonline.in/corpo...cles-act-1988/


VIPs: First, you loot me of my hard earned money through senseless taxes, then you make me wait at a signal so that you can pass with your bodyguards like you own these roads. You and your cronies make laws which make it harder for me to earn money. And then you delay the entire flight since you forgot to give flowers to your mistress, and make me late for an important meeting which will help me earn some money to pay to YOU.

Pic source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...6.ece#comments
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I could go on and on. These just represent a fraction of the rants that are seen all over the net.

While I agree that they have a good reason behind them, I for one would like to jot down why, inspite of all the problems I face daily, I love driving in this country.

I have learnt a lot by driving here. I too have had my share of rants, road rages, accidents while learning to drive here. Does that mean that I stop driving?

No! In fact, I love driving even more. Read on to find out why..


1. SELF CONTROL
The most important thing that driving has taught me is self control. Yes, in these four years of driving, this strikes me the most. You need to have superhuman levels of self control while driving here. Be it to dodge ricks, scooters, pedestrians, new drivers. If there is that occasional scratch, and ding, I have learnt to control myself and let it pass.

Pic source: http://www.tydonsafaris.com/kruger-p...wildlife-memes


2. ENTERTAINMENT
Fellow citizens just keep me entertained throughout my drive, courtesy their foolishness. I play a game every time I drive, 'Guess who's going to have an accident'. That indicab who has just squeezed himself infront of the B.E.S.T. bus, or that biker who is tailgating the truck in front of him. Till now, I have a success rate of 97.3% (wish my grades were that good:)). Can you name another country which keeps you entertained so much?

Pic source: http://21stcenturythenali.blogspot.in/


3. CONSTANT VIGILANCE
You are always on your toes, while driving. While this does add to the stress of driving, I have now taken this as a positive point.

Pic source: http://www.sonofsci.com/madeye_moody...ant_vigilance/


4. SPEEDING
India is one of the few countries which has roads on both ends of the spectrum. No roads, and world class roads. And the best part is most states don't have a speed limit, and among those who do, very few enforce it. Enjoy the thrills (Of course, this is assuming you practice SAFE driving, and good car maintenance). I am not encouraging rash driving. I don't drive like a maniac at all. But I love driving at safe + reasonably high speeds too.

Pic source: http://www.clipartof.com/portfolio/t...r-1048359.html


5. PLANNING AND STRATEGY
Lets have a race. We define the start and finish points. Let's see who reaches the destination first. I bet you, I can win by a good margin. Why?
I simply plan out my route, I anticipate other drivers behavior and navigate accordingly. Do you take 10 mins. to pass a junction? I'll do it in 5 mins WITHOUT breaking any rules. Simply, by anticipating behavior of others. Management guys should learn this from melol:

Pic source: http://www.cyburbia.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12543


6. NATURAL BEAUTY AND THE THRILLS OF ADVENTURE
Tourism in India is still in its infancy. It has a lot of potential. Although beauty is subjective, I for one, just enjoy nature and its beauty while driving through the mumbai goa nh17 highway (the fact that its branded as a killer stretch and my young age thinking only make it more desirable). Or while I am stranded in ladakh due to a landslide. There are a lot of places which for the lack of better word are best described as 'raw' in India. Few years back, Ladakh was one such place (though the signs of commercialization are now clearly seen). The seven sisters are still a mystery to most of us. Exploring the western ghats by road, during monsoons is an experience in itself. Driving to these 'raw' places is so rewarding (help me out here with a better metaphor).

Pic source: https://www.facebook.com/ThrillsNAdventuresWA



These are just some of the most immediate things that come to my mind.

But Simple_car,
Don't you think that we should learn from other countries? Afterall, their laws on driving and speed limits, are largely based on scientific evidence
Aren't you running away from the harsh realities?
That auto-driver cutting you, the SUV drivers driving like they own the road, that biker's cutting lane and endangering his and our life; shouldn't you sit up and do something about it?
I mean whats the point if we don't learn from history?

I agree, we are at the mercy of the Almighty himself when we take control of the wheel. No matter how good, how careful, how intuitive a driver you are; at the end of the day, you cannot trust the other drivers.
Heck, psychologists will tell you that I have formed some sort of defense mechanism in my brain and blah blah...

During my limited travel to other developed countries, I happened to meet a gem of a person, who remarked to me: 'I was an atheist, until I visited India' (I think he has picked it up from some book, but nonetheless, I consider it a privilege to have met him)
This line has always stuck with me since. I mean, no matter how I look, I am always amazed at how we Indians live out here. But, that is a topic for another time.

I would like to hear from fellow bhpians,
1. Do you love driving in India? IF YES, then continue,
2. What do you love the most about driving in this country?
3. What has driving here, taught you?
4. Bikers and off road enthusiasts. Please do tell us, what is unique to Indian driving conditions. I am not into biking and off roading.
4. Feel free to describe some your best memories while driving here. I don't want to hear your travels (that's already covered in the travelogue section), just the good times.



Thanks for reading,

Always Drive safe,

Simple_car

I really love such different thinking. The herd mentality is not getting me or us anywhere.

Just couldn't agree more on this. And allow me to complain for the last time: we are not even giving a fraction of second to think that we ourselves are surely a part of this 'WE'.

What I want to know more on, is point #3 CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Could you please elaborate on your thoughts on this; I am yet to master even a bit of it.I'm only getting more and more stressed by seemingly thinking positive or being relaxed on a drive.

Very nice thread. I thoroughly enjoyed going through the way you have composed the whole write-up with apt pictures to complement. :thumbs up

Apart from the points you have mentioned, here's another positive takeaway mention from me. Driving in India and/or watching others drive/ride on the roads here allows us an insight into what kind of people those are in real life as well. We see people driving insanely with no regard for others' time or property. We see rule-breakers, foul-mouthers, lane-discipline-abusers, toll-gate-queue-jumpers, signal-queue-jumpers and what not. I'm dead certain, impatience and scant regard for rules / fellow humans will show up in other aspects of their lives as well. Driving in India, in my opinion, allows you to judge people based on how they behave/drive on the road.

It is fun to watch how educated people get all worked up when they are about to miss an iteration of the green signal, or how they deliberately avoid giving way to a pedestrian crossing or vehicle struggling to take a U-turn.

Driving in other developed countries is so precise and perfect, everyone drives the same way. You hardly get to see who is an idiot and who isn't, because idiots there never pass the license test *lol*.

One more funny aspect I recollect about driving in India, especially in peak traffic - when there is an Ambulance trying to rush an emergency patient to a hospital, people are hardly bothered about giving way. Instead some opportunists follow the Ambulance closely and try escaping the grid lock stealthily :uncontrol, to get a head start over other 'competitors'. That scene makes me smile everytime I see it, and I do see it quite frequently.

Driving in India and surviving is a class act by itself. We have the narrowest roads, bad roads, low powered automobiles, huge traffic per road and yet we also manage to have the highest fatalities in the world. The first few points should have eliminated chances of fatalities, but it hasn't. What I did develop is " patience" in my life. Yeah, driving in India does bring out that quality. I wish Indians had a grain of traffic sense. In general most of us don't . The only way we develop people to have traffic sense is if we fine them left right and center and don't accept bribes/ intimidation. Alas, thats never going to happen.

This is an interesting (and a positive) take on the Indian traffic conditions!agree:, driving in India is a different ball game all-together, compared to driving in the west or elsewhere.
Now, coming to the answers for your questions:
1) YES, of course!
2) You have already covered a majority of the points, but what I love the most over here, is the element of uncertainity associated with driving. You have to be one your toes every minute, to watch out for the unknown. And of course, your are free to do good speeds on some beautifull roads like the Bangalore Hyderabad stretch, without the fear of being pulled over.
3) Patience, patience and lots of patience. Also, defensive driving, emergency preparedness and effective utilization of time(I listen to audio books on my daily commute).
4) Am no longer a biker now; used to be one, 4 years back, when I used to do a 60 Kms round trip daily. As a biker, you would need to be a bit more carefull, because the chances of getting into an accident are significantly higher. I used to always wear a helmet and shoes while driving, had both my RVMs properly aligned, had all my indicators working, and used to drive defensively. Escaped without any major accident during all of 5 years when I was a biker.
5) Some memorable incidents - like picking up speed after a break near Suryapet, only to find two bikers coming on my lane with headlights on(they had to take a service lane to my left), and I had to swerve at the last minute.
Again, going on the right most lane at a good speed, only to find a bike parked near the median, with a very drunk biker sprawled on the median. Thankfully, the left lane was empty, and I could swerve in time.

One lesson I learnt from the article is that, whenever I see someone breaking traffic rules, I am not going to curse him and increase my blood pressure. Instead, I am just going to laugh at that person. Perhaps, if my wife is with me, I'll crack a joke or two.

However, I do have this (bad) habit of trying to overtake any vehicle whose tail lights or brake lights aren't functioning. This includes 99% of the buses and trucks. It confuses me a hell lot when I am stuck behind such a vehicle. Instead of overtaking, I guess I should try to concentrate on that vehicle and test my eyes' depth perception ;-)


You are so right! I first observed this, oddly enough, in church. During communion in churches, the celebrants are expected to go in a queue, bench after bench. But in Bangalore, it is rarely so smooth. People come in multiple queues, just like the way they flock around a junction when the signal is red!

Different thread and yes, i love driving in India (Haven't had the pleasure of driving elsewhere, but will do soon). After learning to drive with my bike in today's jampacked roads with abysmal widths that can put shoelaces to shame, I learnt how to drive a car as well(A reasonably new driver at that, 3 months is all the experience i have, all of it!). One thing i learnt to do is hold one's space and keep moving. Observe others and i can tell you, i have learnt how not to drive here as well. Needless to say, i am surviving with the knowledge that i have analysed every idiot on the road, but god makes new, beter idiots everyday so i guess i will have to keep updating myself now and then.

For me, this is the most interesting item in your article. I have seen such drivers. Drivers who are in big cars maneuver so easily in traffic without making you mad. I admire them and try to follow them to see how they pick the gaps and mainly, how they pass the others without triggering their ego which all the cab drivers do effortlessly :D

Yes I love driving in India!!!
I love driving on our highways and I like the challenge our city roads throws at me.
I have been to Germany and Italy for company assignments and have been a passenger with my foreign colleagues on long drives. What I feel is their driving style is purely mechanical due to the overall discipline of the drivers and the general traffic situation.
But here in our country we have to be super alert and it feels like mission accomplished when we reach from point A to B without a scratch or a dent.
My daily drive from my home in Tambaram to office in Nungambakkam and back is a challenge I wake up to each morning. And I am proud of the fact that there are only two minor scratches (touchwood) that too on the bumper of my Liva since I started taking it to office in Feb this year.
After reading various posts about the highs and lows of highway driving in India it was indeed an exhilirating experience when I had my first long drive from Chennai to Thiruvalla in Kerala a couple of months back.
Thanks.

What an awesome thread. I loved it. You summarized the negatives of driving in India and brought out the positives. Its very rare that i read a thread in its entirety but i ended up reading every word of your thread. I began to drive in India however i actually learn t to drive in Australia. After coming back it was a chaos theory on our roads here. Personally i hate driving in India but i'll have to admit that if you can drive here then no one can stop your odyssey no matter which country you go to. An amazing thread again and it rocks.

Well done mate!
Thank you for making me smile and for bringing some nice positivity back into my life through your highly enjoyable, contrarian post!
Yes, there is indeed much to celebrate through good thoughts rather than meekly succumb to all pervasive negativity, which is by far the easier option and therefore, becomes the default path taken by most of us.
Thank you for making all of us sit up and take notice and hopefully start thinking differently.

Nice topic.

I am too a fan of driving in India. Like most of us, I have also grown up driving in the madness that is Indian traffic. True, it has kept me, not necessarily for lack of a better word, entertained.

In my college days, every little thing on the road was exciting. Somehow, all of it isn't so exciting anymore. Seeing the possibility of an accident about to happen was thrilling. But now it's horrifying. Only because I have been a part of a couple of major accidents.
But it is this very love of driving, that too in India, that has never scared of taking the wheel again.

There are enough negatives in life. Even an excellent road like the Yamuna Expressway becomes "boring", "dangerous", "noisy surface" etc. after the first 20 kms.. And then after a 100 kms, there's rain. You start to appreciate the movement of the traffic. The grippy concrete surface - inspiring enough confidence to continue travelling at 100 kmph in the pouring rain. Proper drainage. No aquaplaning. There're positives & negatives to everything.

It all reminds me of a song "Don't let it bring you down".

I do enjoy rambling :)

Cheers and drive safe.
Sam

Well I for one would like to honestly confess that, if not every time, atleast some times, I was the 'idiot' all the above T-Bhpians have been referring to.

Majority of the so called idiots are originally not idiots. They are forced by the behavior of others to convert themselves into idiots. This is my opinion and I may be wrong.

In the morning before leaving the house, I used to pray god that I should not face any situations where I get irritated and provoked and then transform into a 'idiot', but almost everyday, not even a Kilometer is covered before the said situations occur.:Frustrati

1) A two wheeler cutting across you - either by rash driving or sometimes, they just drift (engulfed in some thoughts).
2) Auto rickshaws, scraping the corner of your bumpers, just because, they think, a gap is wide enough for their auto to move, if the front of the Auto fits into the gap. They are not bothered that the rear of their Auto is wider than the front.(Some times I want to represent to the manufacturers to please build the Autos in such manner that the reverse is true).
3) RTC Buses, which simply can do anything and get away with anything. when they can kill people, scraping, hitting cars and other vehicles is nothing in comparision. The most irritating aspect with them is, to avoid them, if we go to the left most corner of the road, even there they come behind you and try to squeeze in between your vehicle and the footpath as if they are driving a bicycle.
4) SUVs - I need not say anything since it may hurt the feelings of many of my own friends/buddies :D.

Now as I said I then suddenly become an idiot in a fit of rage, which I immediately realise and used to feel guilty. Of course this was long time back.

Then I found a small solution for this problem. It works for many of the problems we face on the road. Yes it worked for me.

The solution is:
When biker cuts across - I immediately remember all the young chaps in my family, relations and friends. The fellow on the bike definitely resembles one of them and I think, OK thats our Venkat going on that bike. The rage simply fizzles out and I have a smile or a smirk and then keep driving.

When a lady just drifts across, I remember my own sister, who inspite of my good advice, just drives in the middle of the road. Again the anger comes down.

What about Auto-wallahs? Yes, when we I get irritated with Autos and Taxis, I just think about their situation. I can atleast relax and convert my self from an idiot to a gentleman when I reach my office, but those fellows are always on the roads and even if they follow what ever I am 'preaching' here now, can they do it for the whole day. No. Hence, empathizing with their situation definitely serves our purpose - that is bringing down the anger quotient. I would not say that all of them are correct, but atlest some of them might also be trying to behave themselves, but our overall road conditions do not allow them to be gentlemen. In fact these guys are always on their toes for earning their living unlike the biggest rouges - the RTC drivers.

RTC drivers, atleast in A.P are one of the best paid employees. They have so many facilities and their working hours are comfortable enough. Despite regular training, they are one of the biggest idiots on the roads. I was never able to give any solution for this problem and continue to get irritated and provoked by them.

The above solution is being adopted by me for the last few years and surprisingly it WORKS for me. I am not advising this to anybody but just thought of sharing.

What I want to re-iterate is that, the transformation part is true for majority of us and not to get transformed is a training / practice that has to be done everyday, constantly and it is an evergoing process.

- Sai

Interesting thread!

On the annual trip to India, and as someone who has grown up and learnt driving in Sweden - I can honestly state: I enjoy driving here!

There is a constant sense of dynamism. Everything is overwhelming, and to be honest an assault to the senses! To drive here effectively I have to focus far more than I would in Sweden, and I enjoy the challenge.

I even find bottle neck traffic interesting because there's always a lot to look at. There is no monotony.

That said, I always have this nagging feeling in the back of my head about how one wrong move could prove itself fatal for a) someone else, b) the occupants in my car, c) myself. The margins of error are very narrow. It's like walking on a tight rope.