Our Time in Rajkot

It's been a few days since I posted, as internet and time have been hard to come by. We have been so kindly welcomed into the homes and hearts of our Rajkot hosts, that thanks can't come close to conveying our gratitude, but will continue thanking them. I can't possibly cover everywhere we visited in this bustling city, so I'll try to focus on impressions, and how our experience has effected us.

I'll start with the driving. While I'm sure this is nothing compared to the madness we will surely see in Mumbai and Delhi, it is still amazing, and a little terrifying. We have seen one traffic light, a few traffic cops who don't seem that interested in traffic, and a lot of traffic circles. Traffic flows remarkably well in what I could only describe as beautiful chaos. Motorcycles compete with auto-rickshaws (little three wheelers that are used for everything from taxi to dumptruck, seriously...), cars, and the ever present cows, as shown in the picture. At intersections, there seems to be a clear pecking order, usually the vehicle that would do more damage getting right of way, but every now and then a surge of motorcycles and scooters will break through the main flow of traffic until that side street empties enough that a break in flow can be exploited by the main flow again. And yet it works.

Cars and motorcycles will be three deep in one lane, and passing sometimes requires borrowing some of the oncoming lane. We've only seen one fender bender between a scooter and a car, and the damage was minor. You don't see traffic jams though, and it's always flowing, and you get to wherever you need to go in a reasonable manner. It's just all at 20mph. Horns are used to encourage people to move a little to the left so you can come through. They are used for saying I'm coming through so pay attention, as my car will not feel good when it greets you. They are used to say, "Mr. Cow, do you really think it's a good idea to sleep in the middle of my lane?" It is also for saying "hello, I'm still here, please don't veer two inches to the right or your handlebar will scratch my paint". Horns are popular all day and all night, they love to use them, and the sounds of the city never sleep.

The city is growing very fast, and new construction is everywhere. The government of the state of Gujarat is very business friendly, so engineers and skilled workers are coming to Rajkot, as it is a center of smaller industry, and anyone with the education, will, and a little money can make a good life here. So many of our hosts have taken us to their factories, and they are my age. The opportunities for engineers in a developing country are amazing, and it makes me wistful that I was unable to apply my engineering degree in such a manner.

We have been treated like celebrities here. We were interviewed by the number one station in the city, Big FM yesterday. And today, while touring a government run crafts store, we were interviewed by a national TV network, so apparently we will be on the air this evening! We also made today's evening paper, as we interviewed the owner yesterday, and he interviewed us. It's been a tremendous experience so far, and it's been four days!

The tolerance of the people of Rajkot is worth mentioning. They have driven us around a lot, and have shown us so much, always falling behind schedule because we like to ask questions, and yet I've never seen them, or anyone get angry or frustrated. There is a peaceful acceptance of it all that I hope becomes engrained in me. There is no road rage, no anxiety, no anger.

Well, I think we are about to go to dinner, so I'll wrap up. I don't have time to review, so hopefully this all makes sense. Next post I'll try to say something about the food! We leave Rajkot tomorrow for Porbandar, and we'll be stopping along the way in a large forest preserve, where the last Asiatic Lions live. It never occured to me that we would be seeing lions in the wild, and we are just getting started! Please keep checking back, and leave us feedback on our stories. We'd like to know if anyone is reading. :-)

Thanks,

Blake and team