“Kent, I would like to introduce you to the back of this rickshaw.”

It is fairly well known amongst Non-Indian Residents that negotiating traffic on a cycle here is a harrowing experience.  Up until now, I hadn’t had an accident.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve almost been smacked by a scooter, rickshaw, car, truck, bus, tank, cow….No problem, though, because after every near-miss, I become de-sensitized a little bit more.  Maybe that isn’t such a good thing in a country where turning the head 90 degrees to the right as an impossible motion while on a motorized vehicle.

Case in point: the other day.  I was on my way home from Chandigarh, following the main road as I normally would.  Nothing was out of the ordinary – I was passing other cycles, while all other motorized vehicles were passing me.  One of the common complaints here is that there is no courtesy.  Even if it makes no logical sense to pass someone and then pull off to the side, people still do it.  

I didn’t really notice the rickshaw going by me on the right…it happens all the time and if I continually paid attention to them, I would lose all focus on the road ahead.  After the rickshaw had cleared me by about 5 metres, it decided to pull over to the left and drop someone off.  As I looked up, all I could say was, “Oh s***,” as I rammed on the brakes (Indian brakes aren’t exactly top notch).  Seeing no positive end to the situation, I braced myself for the collision.  

As a crashed into the thing, I was surprised that I wasn’t propelled forward to get up-close and personal with the passengers inside.  I can just see it:

Random Person: “So, how’d you two meet your wife?”
Kent: “I crashed into the rickshaw she was in, flew through the back, and landed right in her lap.”

For some reason, I wasn’t fazed by the situation and just moved my bike to the side and kept going.  But not before I shouted some obscenities at him…something to the tune of, “What the f*** are you doing?”  Funny thing was, I knew exactly what he was doing – it was just impossible to stop in time.

When the driver started going again, he slowed down to my speed and we exchange a non-verbal, “Sorry, my bad, are you ok?”  All it took was a little hand movement and everything was fine.  After he passed, I inspecting the damage I had done…the license plate was dangling, but that was about it.

Speaking of accidents, my housemate and co-worker, Benjamin, broke a pedal and avoided near death with incredible skill.  It was crazy to watch and I give him all the credit in the world for staying on his bike has his feet dragged along the ground and other parts of his body rested on the top tube.  And my other housemate and co-worker, Johanna, had a little run-in with a pedestrian and a scooter.  Didn’t see it, but it was nonetheless a frightening encounter.  All three accidents happened on three successive days.  

If you want to read more gripes about riding a cycle on the streets of Chandigarh, Ryan gives you all you can handle in a segment aptly named “Traffic Troubles.”