“Jeeps
bust scooters, scooters plow into bicycles, bicycles cover the hoods of jeeps.
Cars run into trees. Buses run into ditches, rolling over on their
old-fashioned rounded tops until they’re mashed into chapatis of carnage. And
everyone runs into pedestrians. A speed bump is called a ‘sleeping policeman’
in England. I don’t know what it’s called in India. ‘Dead person lying in the
road’ is a guess. There’s some of both in every village, but they don’t slow
traffic much. The animals get clobbered, too, including the sacred cows, in
accidents notable for the unswerving behavior of all participants. Late in our
trip, in Bihar state, the car in front of us hit a cow — no change in speed or
direction from the car, no change in posture or expression from the cow.”—American
humorist P. J. O’Rourke (1947-2022), “Weird Karma,” originally published in Men’s
Journal, January 1999, reprinted in The Best American Travel Writing 2000, edited by Bill Bryson (2000)
Well, I hope matters have improved since O’Rourke wrote this—not just for foreign travelers but also for the citizens of India.
