Out and About Mumbai

Auto rikshaws seem to be the most popular transport in Mumbai and they permeate the roads, flowing like blood cells through arteries and capillaries, filling every available gap, weaving through people, dogs, motorcycles, bicyclists around hundreds of other rikshaws, dodging the endless potholes, construction and road hazards, narrowly missing everything by fractions of an inch including oncoming traffic. Everyone beeps constantly but no one gets out of the way. The occasional traffic light merely serves as a suggestion as intersections invite a non-stop game of chicken, the drivers all pushing to be first, driving around anything and everything in front of them, slowing only if a collision is truly imminent. The only apparent rule is don't hit anything and it's astonishing that no one collides. Amazingly, the drivers are completely relaxed, sitting half cross-legged, not flinching for a moment, rarely noticing close brushes. Major intersections invite gridlock of monumental proportions, freezing hundreds of rikshaws as peds, bikes and motos squeeze through the remaining spaces. Beggars wander about looking for hapless foreigners and stand there pleading, and looking pathetic, our uncomfortable interaction providing brief entertainment for the rikshaw drivers. Yelling and more beeping ensue and eventually we're off again, like there's a race to be won and I hang on. Peter has grown used to it and sits casually, as if in a cafe having his tea as we cruise, weave and bump along. He usually knows where we're going and yells at the driver in a mix of Hindi and English to turn or stop, typically having to repeat himself several times until the driver finally understands and reacts. If we blow by our turn (regularly), the driver just flips a U turn in full traffic or hangs a quick turn down the next narrow vendor lined alley, dodging old men and dogs wandering across the road as if the traffic doesn't exist. Small children stand in the middle traffic, holding the hands of even smaller children as rikshaws and other vehicles flow around them while they wait for a gap. Peter knows good places to eat and have chai, so we sit and relax between frenzied trips and watch and listen to Mumbai buzz around us. Despite the chaos and intensity of it all, I'm struck by the strong sense of give and take and how little hostility I see. Infractions that would cause westerners to scream obscenities and foam at the mouth happen every few moments and barely elicit a head waggle from Indian drivers, who are usually more interested in where we're from or impressed with Peter's Hindi.