Learning how to bicycle in Pondicherry

On my third day in Pondicherry, my principal Jareena handed me a 2003 edition of “Experience! Pondicherry,” as a welcoming gift. This was the same day that Leslie gave me the extra bicycle she had laying around, a dark green cruiser built like a tank that I became immediately attached to. I was still learning how to cross the busy streets here, which takes strategy. The best way I've come up with to describe it is this: crossing the street here is more like crossing a river with a swift current. You sort of go with the flow with all the other trucks, rickshaws, pedestrians, motorcycles, cows... and hope you come to the other side with your head still above water.

In my “Experience! Pondicherry,” guide, I was drawn first to the “Street-Smart Travel Tips”. Here is an excellent diagram on how to turn right (like turning left in the U.S.), that I thought was especially helpful. I had no idea how one was supposed to accomplish the feat of turning right. This diagram gives you a sense for the “river current” phenomenon I was trying to explain, as well as the general order to an Indian street:



So you have to get in the right lane to turn right. As my book states, “Why on earth would you be trying to turn right while staying in the left lane?”
“Experience! Pondicherry”, also has these nuggets of wisdom:

“The three basic principles:
1.Bigger rules smaller.
2.What I can't see isn't there.
3.It's my way on the highway.”

These are meant to help the newcomer understand the mentality of the other drivers on the road. Also very helpful. I am getting very good at adapting these principles as my own, which means eliminating peripheral vision and only focusing on what is in front of you. Biking in New York for years was good training.

In my experience thus far there seems to be one exception to the rule, “Bigger rules smaller.” Pondy has one famous elephant named Lakshmi. She is the official temple elephant, and for a few ruppees she will bless any passerby by raising her trunk. Lakshmi does such a good business, that she can afford three full-time workers to take care of her: feeding, bathing, painting her face, etc. One afternoon I had the pleasure of passing Lakshmi on her way back to the temple after her afternoon repose. The streets here are pretty narrow, and you really get a sense for how big an elephant is when you are squeezing by on a bicycle. Here's the impressive thing: cars and other vehicles slowly waited behind her. There were certainly trucks and buses that were bigger than Lakshmi, however, she got the priority. “Bigger rules smaller,” in Pondy unless you are Lakshmi the elephant, and then you trump all.