I realized something today: in India traffic is bad, lots of honking, lots of smoke, lots of motorized vehicles, BUT no road rage!! People do not get angry (or seldomly) when someone closes in on them or when someone stops them at a green traffic light because they’re doing a forbidden u-turn. They just take it as it comes. Calmly. The most I’ve seen is giving the other driver a mean look.
I use many bad words when I drive (yes, road rage) and now, even as a passenger, I find myself many times swearing in Spanish to the surprise of the driver (who can obviously make no sense of my words), who calmly looks on and brakes or swerves around the wrongdoer, while I fear for my life and wish bad things on others. So I’m not sure what is more stressful: the driving or my inner upheaval.
So I had a moment of seeing things as they are and realized: Maybe Indian traffic is not so bad after all. This comes as a revelation to someone from a city where people have been known to kill each other because one blocked the other, where you drive in fear. Driving in India is an exercise in sublimation of the self. Deep stuff. Will continue to ponder.
On another scale I notice this in Germany: foreigners will be very relaxed about walking on a bike-trail, or in general about following rules of traffic. You realize you are becoming Germanized when you start getting really angry at the stupid pedestrians getting in the way of your bike... or driving their bike in the wrong direction... hehe
ResponderEliminarAnd that's when I think to myself I would rather have relaxed and friendly chaos than hateful order.
No, no no... Believe me this is not relaxed and friendly. I'll take the stressed and inflexible Germans any day of the week.
ResponderEliminar