The Subtle Art of Crossing a Street
How to do it: Tourist version
(mainly kidding, but can be handy)
- Book a tuktuk or a cab to get you across.
- Ask a random person on the street if they can help you cross.
How to do it: Beginner version
(don’t worry, many indians do this too, as it can be scary)
- Spot a gap in the barriers between the different directions of traffic flow.
- Find a group that is getting ready to cross the street and join them.
How to do it: Pro version
(only if you’ve mastered the beginner version!)
- Breathe and calm yourself.
- Observe the traffic and wait for a less dense patch of traffic (it will happen, sometimes it can take a couple of minutes, but it will happen).
- Calmly start walking across the street, and the approaching vehicles will naturally go around you. Do NOT run!
- If the traffic does not thin, follow step 3, and the vehicles will start going around you. This can be scary, but it works. Again, do NOT run!
- Here’s a good demonstration – How to cross a street in India.
Always look both ways, throughout, and don’t walk in front of the bus.