Driving Through India at Night!

[HiHello2012]

Note: Indians drive on the left side of the road and the driver is on the right side of the car.

Like most of the world since India was owned by the UK, most Caribbean islands, Australians, South Africans, Chinese, Japanese all drive on the left with the driver on the right. I suggest you get out of the USA more and see for yourself there's much better Countries than your own.

[DancingSpiderman]

I bet people get paid for their work at the end of the day there , instead of every two weeks.

I just realized... THIS is really living. Getting to and from, working a hard day's work, and getting back home again.

Comedian Russell Peters has a good joke about a foreign family using a moped as a family car.

[TripleXdoc29]

dear lord. what a ride. adrenaline is something you didn´t had for shore : )

5 stars

pedro

[liwaste]

oh yeah.. we do it for real.. but the last time when i went back home .. i was drivng on the wrong side of the road.. huh scary .. almost got killed.. i culd ve hurt sme one else.. thank god.. nothing happned.. im loosing touch because my trips are usualy short.. nd i dont get a lot of time to get used to home.. miss u india..

[DawnAkemi]

I'll bet that one does have to stay practised at driving in India. I probably shouldn't attempt it without proper training both in handling traffic and in driving on the left side of the road. Glad nobody got hurt in your mishap. Thanks for watching!!! I miss India too. :-)

[liwaste]

as far as i can see.. it takes a lot of courage for an american to go to india.. cos its not an attractive place by its cover.. but gets pretty attractive when u meet sme ppl.. its strangely intresting.. but america .. every one knows abt it.. bcos of hollywood.. ppl tend to get used to it easily..

[liwaste]

by the way.. whic place is this..

[DawnAkemi]

We were in Chennai, India during this drive... we also spent a few days in Kerala. The people were great and we were graciously hosted by our producer/filmmaker who is also our friend.  All in all, it was a tremendous experience. Thank you for all your kind comments.

[ComicsAroundTheBay]

Wait, back up! I think I saw Gandhi!

[DawnAkemi]

I think the "Gandhi" you saw, Lee, was the spirit of Gandhi, which I carry in my heart.

:-)

[ComicsAroundTheBay]

Did I say Gandhi?  I meant Elvis.

CHECK THE TAPE!

[reger7]

Beautiful footage Dawn, makes me wanna move there. I wonder what the stress level is?

[DawnAkemi]

I would say the stress level is different there... for different things. The pacing is languid and time slows... I love that. The traffic is crowded, with lots of swerving about to avoid the wide variety of vehicles and pedestrians, but they aren't moving as fast as we do on our highways and streets. I was fascinated!

I have to give credit for the footage to Dave (videowilliams) who traveled with me (and was also in the movie "Onan") on my Indian adventure and was behind the camera.

:-)

[umail2008]

That looks like a good trip.

[DawnAkemi]

It was an amazing trip!!! Thanks so much for stopping by... :-)

[giraffepoo]

Very interesting and crowded. I would be kinda paranoid! Thanks for sharing! Always keep carrying that camera!

[DawnAkemi]

Actually it was Dave who carried the camera... lucky me. I'm looking into getting one of my own... got lots of ideas for what to do with it.

And, yes, visiting India is an emotional experience, with its density and differences... I was enthralled!

Thank you for stopping by...

:-)

[videowilliams]

And lucky me to have Dawn to point the camera at! She's the only person I've travelled with for any length of time who never said "Christ, will you put that freaking thing away?" A shutterbug's dream.

[2008HLS]

You looked a little frightened. :)

The video looked like traffic I've driven in Manhattan, except cars either drive on the right in NYC or in any moving lane on the one-way streets (dodging double-parked cars on both sides). The cyclists and pedestrians come at you in any direction. We even toss in cops on horseback and the horse-drawn buggies! LOL

I thought LA was like NYC except the west-coast "Bumper-to-bumper traffic" moves at 75 MGP.

[DawnAkemi]

Driving through Indian traffic was certainly startling... :-) I've been to NYC (used to live in Washington DC) and the traffic there certainly is crazy. India is somehow even more crazy. Not sure how to describe it and the video doesn't quite capture it, despite our efforts. It's like trying to capture the full energy of a thunderstorm on film. :-) LA is very different from NYC. In fact, the East and West coast seem to me, culturally, like two different countries... :-)

[2008HLS]

I get that impression when I visit family in San Diego. It also seems like a different world going North to South too. What amazes me is how different things can be culturally between NYC and Northeastern PA when they are only three or four hours drive apart! I guess that's a benefit of living in the US - such wondrous diversity, both what we've brought into the country as immigrants over the last two centuries and what developed based on where we live today.

[DawnAkemi]

We do have diversity. I also lived in Seattle and Minneapolis, which are each uniquely different from Washington DC and L.A. Perhaps that's true all over. Shyam, our host in India, would talk about how Chennai was very different from Mumbai. In fact, he would say that South India, in general, is very different from North India. Dave (the man behind the camera for our Indian videos) talks about how different Melbourne is from Sydney in Australia. Our world is incredibly diverse... :-)

[aussie4me]

Just wondering my beautiful friend... How many times you attemp to get out on the wrong side of the cab?Surprise you drove around with the window down...Must of been use to the air..Smile, giggles and yes AML to you from Lou and Karia

[DawnAkemi]

Hiya Lou... thanks for popping by... it's always wonderful to receive your comments and love... :-)

Yes, I certainly did have a bit of a challenge getting used to traffic driving on the left side of the road... kept looking the wrong way before crossing the street... almost got run over (twice) before figuring out I should look both ways (just like I learned in school... ;-).

I can't remember why the window was down... usually we would ride in a car with A/C... a dire need in sultry India! ;-)

[videowilliams]

I think I asked for the window down so we could hear the crazy soundscape. Performer's Comfort was the last thing on my mind! ;-)

[DawnAkemi]

Yeah, well... isn't that just like a director...

:-D

[DawnAkemi]

We're so glad you enjoyed it, pepes317... it was fun to make!!!

;-)

[pixelslinger]

I was thinking that this reminded me of a video game -- driving while everything was happening at once, and then your host said the same thing! Although I like your commentary, I appreciate your sitting back and letting us experience this for ourselves. Really, what more needed to be said? Great Video.

[DawnAkemi]

Great minds think alike, Scott! It's definitely true that sometimes you can say more with images (in this case, moving images and sound) than with words.

Thanks for your terrific comment! ;-)

[SmileySophea]

when I was vacationing in Cambodia, the traffic was excatly like that! lols, it's just so chaotic

[DawnAkemi]

Glad you were able to relate, Sophea... the chaotic feel of being in Indian traffic was difficult to convey on a video. Thank you for stopping by... ;-)

[SetInChicago]

Hope all is going well. LOL at best line ever "In India we don't play video games, we do it for real."

[DawnAkemi]

Thanks for your kind sentiments, Jan! Yes, Shyam is a clever dude... hope you get to meet him some time.

I saw your on myspace now... thanks for the friend invite!

;-)

[petergoesonair]

You had an insightful driver,"In India we don't play video games, we do it for real!"

[DawnAkemi]

Thanks for stopping by, Peter! That was Shyam, our director speaking. We were riding in a taxi and the driver is on the right as they drive on the left in India... just like in Australia. That took some getting used to by this right-side driving American... :-D

[skippybugeye]

Crazy drivers!

[DawnAkemi]

It did seem crazy... though I think Indian drivers are more skilled than my American counterparts, who can be lulled into inattentive driving by our "organized standards".  In fact, I've been in L.A. for just over a week and have seen more accidents on the road than in the entire month I spent in India. That's some food for thought... ;-)

Thank you for watching... ;-)

[benzone50]

organised chaos! lol!

[DawnAkemi]

Yes, indeed, organized chaos really sums up Indian traffic for me! I want to document on film a busy intersection from a high building... and then run the tape at high speed. I keep thinking it will look like how blood cells move through our veins... or something like that...

:-D

Thanks for stopping by, Ben!!!

[Mikey34549]

wow they just push threw the intersection.

[DawnAkemi]

It's true, Mike, the drivers there do push through, out of necessity... you'll be waiting all day for an opening. Interestingly, the Indian drivers accept this mode of driving and there is a standard of politeness existing around it... it seemed perfectly okay to do and its very different from how we react when someone pushes through traffic.

Thanks for watching... ;-)

[TheMagicMeathands]

You rock, Dawn!

[DawnAkemi]

Why, thank you, my Meathands... I sure did miss you all while I was away. Thanks for keeping the funny going while I was away... ;-)

[hinata4everfan]

^o^ that must be so awesome!!!

[DawnAkemi]

It was inexpressibly awesome, hinata4everfan... thanks so much for watching! ;-)

[sonicflyingmachine]

Awesome!

[DawnAkemi]

Thank you, sonicflyingmachine... your positive presence is always welcome... ;-)

[humanswin]

I'd hate to see rush hour.

[DawnAkemi]

Rush hour seemed last all day there... ;-)

Though they do have a "rush hour" which seemed to coincide with the time for "rush hour" in America (early morning, evening)... the traffic felt only slightly more dense to me during those times... I guess everything is relative... ;-)

Thanks again for your wonderful attention, humanswin!!!

[theloathlydaddy]

"In India we don't play video games, we do it for real!" Great, fascinating video, thanks for sharing!

[DawnAkemi]

Yes, our director, Shyam, is very clever... his English is excellent and he speaks 6 languages... I was impressed!

We're glad you enjoyed the vid... India sure is a fascinating place!!! ;-)

[Spammyguy712]

I love what the drivers says at the end! Wow, all the people, geez, what time of night was this? Hope you are doing well over there!

[DawnAkemi]

Actually, that was Shyam, our director speaking... the driver is on the right as the drive on the left hand side of the road in India... that alone felt very different for me... ;-)

The time of night was probably around 8pm...

Thanks for your good wishes, Dean... ;-)

[shanonvg]

This is so cool...riding along the streets of India with you. Dawn you are radiant!(more then usual) And you thought driving Hollywood was fun...LOL

We have all missed you two terribly, so thank you for the videos.

[DawnAkemi]

I really wanted the sense of riding in those streets to convey in a video, but I think I asked too much... it really was, as Dave says, "a feast for the senses"... a video can only do so much. Such an experience can't help but imbue additional radiant energy inside oneself... I think I reflected my environment and the people I was with.

Thank you again for such a wonderful comment, Shanon!

[TommyC71291]

yep ,, I'd have to take a cab! Thanks for the insight!

[DawnAkemi]

Driving in sure India felt like an act of bravery to me!!! Thanks for taking a peek into our adventure... ;-)

[enzosso]

Dawn, you look so beautiful!

What a great glimpse into life in India!

Was that Shyam in the front seat?

And why is Dave so quiet?

[DawnAkemi]

Aww, Cici... you're always so good to me... xoxo!

Yes, that is Shyam in the front seat. We're riding in a taxi and the driver is on the right as they drive on the left in India... this presented a slight problem for me when crossing the street as I almost got run over (twice)... had to relearn looking both ways... ;-)

As to Dave's uncharacteristic speechlessness, perhaps his eyes were so busy, his mouth didn't know what to do... :-D

[stimpyfudge]

OMG...LOL..they are crazy drivers, love the comment about the video games....Be safe.

[DawnAkemi]

It certainly was crazy in the streets... and it gave me a heightened awareness. Shyam's clever quip pretty much says it all... ;-)

As ever, thanks so much, Nikki!

[maynard427]

It looks a lot like driving thru Detroit at night only safer!! Hope your having the time of your life. And Dawn about that tee shirt your gonna bring me......... Steve (Maynard427)

[DawnAkemi]

Thank you, Steve. I sure did have the time of my life... in so many more ways than one!!! Detroit is suddenly sounding like a scary place at night... ;-)

Oh, and about your tee shirt... they're so rare, I had to pick it up in the black market... but then, immigration wouldn't let me through with it in my carry on luggage, despite my efforts to bribe them with real American dollars. They took your beautiful tee shirt and threw it into a bin as if it were cheap cotton. I was outraged...

:-D

[iWhales]

omg you are still in India! A temporary neighbor! America is so so far away. These are really amazing reality shift videos - we wish so much to be in your shoes but you are facilitating that - please please send us invites to the premiere of the film; all our love Dawn ~T&W~

[DawnAkemi]

Thank you Wally and Trish! I'm glad to be returning the same kind of reality shift experience your videos give me. One day, I will have to take that boat ride with you and experience those shifts in 3D. In the meantime, we can continue to inspire each other online. I know I speak for Dave when I say we would love to see you two at the premiere. Hugs!!!

[iggy35]

Looks like your having a blast :)

[DawnAkemi]

Gosh, it really was a blast!!! Thanks for stopping by, iggy35... ;-)

[shvadas2012]

Dawn, I'm gonna give ya an Oscar now and 5 stars.Keep havin' a BLAST

Om Shanti :-)

[DawnAkemi]

Oh... yaaaay, an Oscar for little ole me! Thank you Frank! ;-)

[tigerus3]

incredible how they don´t have so many accidents. you guys were quiet, to much quiet. that says everything.

great video

5 stars

[DawnAkemi]

Sitting in the car was like being on a thrill ride... there was never a dull moment and no need to fill the air with conversation. It's also true that there are surprisingly few accidents... I think Indian drivers are, of necessity, incredibly aware. Riding through traffic was a remarkable experience.

Thank you, tigerus3... ;-)

[gxv2336789]

Interesting!!!

[DawnAkemi]

It certainly was!! Thank you, gxv2336789... ;-)