Vignette : Transportation or the art of balance

I was in the car, today, looking around, totally enthralled by the ever going spectacle around me - I've been living in India for almost 3 years, now, and I don't know that I'll ever get tired of it, nor used to it - and I decided to write little vignettes about life here and post some photos. I've taken to carrying a camera everywhere I go. One always has to be prepared. So, today's post will be about transportation.



Indian people seem gifted with a supernatural sense of balance. One comes across the most extraordinary sights in the streets and on the roads. Entire families riding a motorcycle : dad, mom, and up to three kids, with mom barely holding onto anything - I mean, she seems to simply perch there, more often than not sidesaddle, her dupatta or sari floating behind her. Sometimes, a child sleeps in her arms, totally oblivious of the noise and traffic. Lone men - or sometimes more - on bicycles carrying loads so enormous that the rider seems to disappear and one wonders how it all manages to move forward. Auto rickshaws filled way over their actual capacity, with people hanging outside. Of course, there are lots of accidents. But people have to go about their lives and that means going places. And so, life goes on.