Previously – I was beamed to the mother ship and thought I’d never see humans again till a near accident (of someone else) showed me that I wasn’t so far from home after all.
I was picked up from the infamous Fraport by a colleague of my dad’s – N. In a B.M.W! I couldn’t believe my eyes and I couldn’t wait to gloat to my friends and family. This was back in the time before I had a Facebook account or a blog, but thankfully I had a camera phone. Now, BMWs are pretty commonplace in Germany but in India, it’s usually only really successful CEOs and Bollywood actors who drove them. Our idea of common cars were this – sure they weren’t the best looking ones but it survived for decades on our roads and that was all you needed in a car.
Back then, probably our most affordable and reliable car. Source
I know, I know. It looks like the kind of vehicle you use to kidnap someone. But I came to love its bucket seats! Source
Imagine my surprise when the car had amazingly comfortable seats and functioning seatbelts. Not only that, the car windows didn’t roll down, they had some automatic buttons that I had to struggle not to play with because of course I was a mature teenager. Right? Of course. What shocked me the most was not the music player that could play CDs (we still used cassettes for everything!) but that there was some sort of screen in the middle of the dashboard that actually SPOKE.
Oh.My.God.
A car that spoke, showed routes and even gave traffic updates and expected time of arrival. While I was busy looking out the windows, wondering at this nation that was obviously run by robots, I noticed lanes with speed limits. And the top speed? See, I know Schumacher was at the best of his game back then but an entire nation of racers? BUT, there were no accidents, everyone kept to their lanes and when people slowed down for a traffic light, they kept a meter distance between each car.
What was this country?
- This is how our disciplined lanes and speed limits look like
One of our more bizarre warning signs/milestones
Where was the last picture taken? Blackhorse/11 ACR in the right hand corner. My husband served in that regiment for 3 years in Germany. Just curious!
The ‘Be mild on my curves’ one? I don’t really know. I found it on google.
Looking at the 1st photo, parking appears to be quite the challenge in these parts. Or is there a bar nearby? 🙂
Parking is always a problem. You park wherever you want because come on, the roads belong to your family 😉 Nothing a small bribe to the cops can’t fix!
That’s my country!
Akhil Kalsh.
You’re so cute. Robots, ha!
There are actually speed-limits in cities even if they are not explicitely stated on signs, except on the Autobahn. There you can drive as fast as you can/want when there is no speed-limit although the proposed speed is 130km/h. Unfortunately most parts of the Autobahn have a limit and it’s annoying as hell, as are all the construction sites!
But I understand that it’s a huge thing to adapt to when you’re coming from India 🙂
In my city, I take 2 hours to travel 15-18 kilometres so you can imagine the kind of traffic I have to face everyday. The roads in Germany were such a breath of fresh air – am I even allowed to say it like that? 😀 Thank you!
Don’t know why you shouldn’t be allowed to say it like that. Our roads are pretty fantastic most of the times.
It is quite literally a breath of fresh air – you try breathing in here and you’ll probably have a stroke! 😀
Driving in Taiwan was also bad. But I’m pretty sure India is worse!
I suppose we’d find the same in most Asian countries. The only difference being India’s population makes for much denser traffic! 😀
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Indian traffic is certainly memorable, a real adventure that I loved!
Glad you survived it and it didn’t totally put you off the country! 😀
Liked this one. Reminded me I haven’t listened to my Russell Peters albums for a while. So I am now.
Haha. Somebody gonna geta hurt real bad! 😀
LMFAO! Nice to see a fellow Desi with a self-deprecating sense of humor 😀
Wouldn’t be the same without that sense now would it? 😀
Wicked Van! 🙂
Isn’t it though? We’ve scared quite a few people with it after we tinted the windows black 😀
I love the photo with all the cars – what an adventure!! 🙂
You know it’s a great country when even crossing the road becomes an adventure! I hope you’ll get to see this for yourself soon! 🙂
Me too. I love to travel. Thanks for sharing your adventures – love seeing them!
wow that crowded street car’s yellow cars look like they are from an amusement park, cute lol 😀
It is quite like being in an amusement park – rollercoaster rides, cars bumping into each other, food stalls and merry-go-rounds. Quite an adrenaline rush too!
Cool! bring on the cotton candy and hot dogs! I’ll drive it XD
Our street food is a bit different but you’ll definitely find tonnes of cotton candy. You can create your own Need for Speed version India. It’ll be a great hit. I know it!
Oh I know I will! the possibilities!! 😉
thank you for ALL the likes on my blog! 🙂 🙂
Hahaha. Sorry for ALL the spam. I had some reading to catch up with 🙂
Very grateful for that 😀 😀 😀