Wednesday, April 29, 2009

It’s just a matter of accepting it!

During my occasional visits to Kuwait the drive from our staff house to the clients is only 10 mins with moderate traffic. But it would take me a good half hour to 45mins due to traffic. And it completely stresses me out - not that I am not used to traffic (anyone who has driven around downtown Dubai will find traffic in Kuwait very minimal). What gets on my nerves is the style of driving here especially the local Kuwaitis. They are just maniacs with their 5.7 liter suburban’s who refuse to acknowledge a 1.2 liter Toyota Yaris which is also trying to inch forward.

They would just ignore you, cut in front of you, tail gate you, yell and honk at you when they pass by you over the footpath...you name it. Even then this is a lot more civilized than driving back home through a busy street in Cochin – where there are no rules. But somehow driving there doesn’t stress me out. So I did some thinking as to why does the Kuwaiti animals get me all worked up. I think it is due to the fact that I have accepted the fact that driving in India sucks - that the car next to you is going to cut in front of you, and the car behind is going to honk till you go faster and the auto in front will do a right turn without indicating. So I am all set and prepared to expect the unexpected so there is no element of surprise. A country as rich as Kuwait ought to be better – this just goes to prove that money does not bring class. Anyway so here I am trying to accept that things are bad here and the sooner I do that the more relaxed I would be when I start my day at the office.

5 comments:

Casuarina said...

Well now, what can you do except adjust, considering how much worse things might be in Cochin ? K is driving quite well here, and even 65 miles per hr on the highway doesn't unnerve him, but the moment his father comments that driving in Kolkata should be no problem for him now, he says "No way ! I'm not going to risk my life in the no-rules game !"

So, it's just a matter of time before you get used to all the chaos :-) (And consider, there are none of those disgusting autos here at least !)

The Ketchup Girl said...

i think this has also a little bit to do with the fact that u are in foreign land. In india- u know u are amongst us. ofcourse, this doesnt hold good, if u are the world citizen philosophy type of person.

I get unnerved here in sydney with the racism- and a firebrand woman like me, surprisingly, leaves such comments, speechless. it bugs me later when i think of it- in india, i'd cut such people into pieces...

EYE said...

good luck with cars. i have always been nervous about them.

EYE said...

my mother is a great driver though...

Discovering M said...

WOW!! I am so glad that you guys still visit my blog - I havent written for a while. Been traveling a lot lately :(

Casuarina - In the West I have noticed that drivers actually stop at a STOP sign. Here if you do that - you will go deaf with the honking from drivers behind you. It is considered a crime here :)

Yes the autos gets on my nerves the most.


KG -Yes being in foreign land makes a differnce too. btw - hows the firebrand woman dealing with the recent happenings in Oz ? God help the racists ??



EYE - You need to get over that nervousness, it can be a fun experience.

My mum was a great driver too - except that she needed three parking slots to park her tiny Honda Civic :-P