Album: 01-07 India

     Album:2013:01-07 India

I was at the company holiday party and one of my coworkers was talking about how he didn't like his trip to our offices in India because he got sick. I told the founder that I'd happily go to India, so we came up with a reason that I would be useful there, and I was on a plane a week later, for a short trip to India. It was amazing. The culture was similar to the Middle East or my Thailand trips, but I have never seen driving like this.

I don't think I can make that point clearly enough. I wish I had gotten some video of the driving in the daytime. I've never seen anything like it. My ride from the airport when I arrived was a nice welcoming, with the taxi speeding down the road (and sometimes off it), splitting lanes, ignoring lanes, ignoring red lights, tailgating. Wow. And I soon picked up that this was completely normal. Cars split lanes and push other cars out of the way with their horn, cutting people off and even driving the wrong way down the street was the status quo.

When I was in Thailand with Nabi, we took a scooter taxi ride that was pretty terrifying. I think India would be just as terrifying to those Thai scooter drivers.

So of course to finish off my trip I drove a (thankfully short) trip back to the hotel. Keep those brakes ready!

My first morning
in Bangalore, I walk one block from the Hotel and.. ( comments)
There she lies,
our iCelero Bangalore office! It's amazing to see something you've helped create spread like this. ( comments)
The entry to the office
( comments)
Wow..
( comments)
..I've never seen a stray horse
walking through a city before. ( comments)
..Though stray cows..
( comments)
..are quite common.
So are dogs. Though the cows seem to only be in certain areas - and I think some of these cows were spoken for. A strange pasture. ( comments)
Wandering cows
in Bangalore ( comments)
In Hyderabad
I take a night out to Charminar.. ( comments)
..Which is packed and amazing
( comments)
Similar to a newer J..alem or Turkish Mall
( comments)
It has a variety of these arches.
( comments)
"Follow Traffic Rules"
A sign that one will only see where people do NOT follow traffic rules. ( comments)
Looking up Hi-Tech Street
( comments)
Looking back,
this is as light as it gets, and this is what you have to dodge if you want to cross the street. For real. It's like Frogger, in real life. ( comments)
One of the few places that drivers
actually obey the traffic lights. I wish I'd gotten video during rush hour. I've never seen anything like it. [Video, 21.6M] ( comments)
[Video, 21.2M]
Cars and cycles lane split,
and honking is communication. [Video, 21.2M] ( comments)
I love the pedestrian at 11s.
That's how you have to cross the road. [Video, 49.6M] ( comments)
Scooter frenzy
[Video, 26.2M] ( comments)
People cut each other off,
and that's the norm. Whomever gets the road first wins. [Video, 22.8M] ( comments)
[photo Vamshi]
Viddu, myself
and some of the Fission Labs team in Hyderabad ( comments)
Much of the FL IA team,
with Janardhana of iCelero as well [photo Vamshi] ( comments)
And for my last feat in India,
I risk Viddu and my life by driving his Vespa back to my hotel. Holy cow. [photo Vamshi] ( comments)
I return to Bangalore airport
for 7 hours, and decide to hit a posh/cheap hotel instead of fighting rush hour for a couple of hours back in the city. ( comments)
Sadly, the water slide is off.
( comments)
But the room is fantastic.
And has a glorious bathtub. ( comments)
Album created by album a free tool by Dave Madison on Fri Nov 11 21:14:20 2022