Chaotic and Colorful

  Namaste 
  Originally uploaded by interplast

Dehradun, India -- Michelle Spring, Webster Fellow  Driving in India is probably one of the most dangerous things I have ever consciously done. The stream of cars almost dance around each other---the drivers are definitely skilled.  There are absolutely no traffic rules, and there are no lanes.  Sometimes 5 or 6 trucks, cars, horses, motorcycles and bicycles cram into what should be one lane.  There are so many "near misses" and "almosts," that, eventually, my adrenaline has stopped rising each time and it becomes sort of mundane to think "Wow, I think we scraped our car with that truck," or "Hmmm, we almost had a head-on collision again...."

I learned last night to never give a begging child money; it took 30 minutes to shake off the hordes of kids who followed me around afterwards, begging and pulling at my jacket.  My heart breaks, though, thinking of them.