Motoring in Delhi is an interesting experience for the foreigner. Having lived in India in the past, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to ride in Autos, take buses, hire taxis and ‘private hire’ cars. I’ve even ridden motorbikes (Oh, my Enfield, how I miss you!) along dusty country roads and NH-2, Mathura Road around the Vrindavan area.
The view from an Auto-Rickshaw in Delhi
Delhi is something different, however. The majority of vehicles here are private cars or motorbikes. I have just spent the last two weeks driving my friend’s dad’s Ford Ikon around the southern and central parts of the capital. G.K-II, Chittaranjan Park, Nehru Place, Rajeev Chowk (née Connaught Place) are all familiar roadsigns.
Delhi has been called the City of Flyovers in modern times, as various construction sprees during the Emergency of the late ’70s and the current economic boom have laid a spaghetti junction of elevated roadways and underpasses over the ancient maze of djinn-haunted alleys and twisty passages. While driving around on these modern expressways one could be in any modern city. Bus lanes, LED traffic lights, Motorcycle cops with mirror shades, and sleek Mercedes-Benz saloons all conspire to give the impression that it’s business as usual. Once you leave the main roads, however, it’s a different story. In the wealthy residential area where Tanu lives, one gets the idea that every individual block is a sovereign nation in it’s own right. Gates shut at the end of every street, barriers restrict entrance to ‘resident vehicles only’. Private security guards roam the streets to keep everyone safe from the teeming horde outside. In tourist-heavy areas like the obligatory Pahar Ganj or Lajpat Nagar markets, to the untrained eye the traffic is chaos. If you suspend your western preconceptions however, you learn that there’s a rhythm and flow to it all, and it works. I’ve had to learn a few simple road rules that are just as flexible as the ones in the UK.
- Turning left (and right, sometimes) is allowed on red lights
- It’s not called an exit or a turning, it’s a ‘Cut’
- Parking costs Rs. 10 an hour, more in congested places
- Tolls are infrequent, and cheap
The speed at which the actual driving takes place is apparently lower than in the UK, though you’d not notice it due to the fact that traffic here is a constant slow crawl rather than the west’s frantic 50mph rush to the next traffic lights.
Operating a horseless carriage
Once you’re out of the city and on interstate roads, it’s like being on a good quality A road only with slightly more psychotic truck drivers (Polish and Czech cargo hauliers, I’m looking at you).
I like motoring in India. Like most things here, once you throw away your preconception of the way things ‘Ought’ to be, you have a much better time of it.