Rules of the Road

Our driver's name is Tejinder Singh or Kimi, as he likes to be called.  He is the font of knowledge on where to get things cheap, He drives like a maniac, but then so does everyone else.  I asked him what to do if one hits a cow and he simply said, "Run...if you can".  On further questioning he said that even though most of the cows are not owned by anyone, any cow that is suddenly hit will also suddenly acquire an owner and the hardship on the family because of the loss of that cow will be severe.

Kimi has been a wonderful companion to all of us on the road.  He introduced us to Punjabi music and he is very protective of all of us, ensuring that we are safely out of the bazars and streets and back in the sanctum of the hotel when appropriate.

Sounds like our lives are a bit precious at the moment but consider this.  In Jaipur the other day, Alex and Chris and Kimi and I had to cross a traffic circle.  This was the main traffic circle leading around the old city.  Now Alex has a theory that Indians are very egalitarian when it comes to streets.  "The streets are for everyone", he says.  Great theory and very romantic but the execution means the streets are for goats, cows, the local fruit wagon, auto and bicycle rickshaws, cars, tourist buses and transport trucks, most of the time with only a uniformed policeman guiding traffic.  Everyone, including pedestrians, pushes through the eye of whichever needle you happen to want to cross.  Kimi grabbed my hand and looked at Alex who grabbed Christina's and we all pushed and shoved and waded and gestured at whoever deserved it until we got through.  Somehow it all seems to work but just don't think you are going anywhere fast.