i want to talk about TRAFFIC. and SOUND. and STREET CROSSING. and WILDLIFE.
on the way into the city from the airport, at 4:30am, the driver of the private car that collected us honked his horn every single time he overtook another vehicle. this happened on a very wide and empty motorway. it seemed like unusual behavior and i wondered if he was doing it, in some way, for our benefit - showing off his cautious driving skills.
but it turns out this is a GENERAL STYLE - EVERYONE who drives in Bengaluru HONKS more or less constantly. and this HONKING creates a kind of WEB OF SOUND that i began to imagine helped keep everyone safe* in unbelievably dense, constant, and seemingly chaotic traffic. maybe it's like GEESE in the sky who honk to let each other know where they are in the formation and to encourage each other to keep up speed. or like some kind of perpetual FORCE FIELD in which the vehicles move in concert (double entendre = the AUDITORY portion and some weird physical HARMONIZING magnetic resonance).
during most hours of the day, anything on wheels is always within inches of striking another vehicle. so the motorcycles honk. the three wheel rickshaws honk. the private vehicles honk. and the bicycles, heaven help them, ring their tinkly little bells and just hope for the best.
PEDESTRIANS are another story altogether. before i left for India, a friend was speaking to someone who'd been there a lot, someone who had lots of cautionary tales. my friend said: "Lori will be okay - she's staying at a 5star hotel" and the other person said: "she will still have to cross the street...!". and indeed, crossing the street is not a insignificant challenge. more like an exciting activity that could possibly be elevated to the level of an extreme Olympic sport! it turned out, having lived in nyc for years (and possibly having lost some important self-preservation braincells during my wild-hood), i was a natural at Bengaluru street crossing! it takes careful assessment and and lightning reflexes –
spot a pocket and run like hell.
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| another day in the life of an anonymous intersection (not my photo) (*oops - published statistics list Bengaluru as the 10th most trafficked city in the entire world. AND i guess i was dreaming about sound and safety - there are many fatal accidents on the streets in spite of the NEVERENDING HONK...) |
but
in the midst of this utter cacaphony, there is ABUNDANT WILDLIFE. this strikes me as miraculous. in fact, there is so much BIRD SONG that it can be heard, loud and clear, above the din. and the sky is full of KITES. not the paper kind with strings but glorious soaring, RAPTORS. black kites, in great numbers, wheel through the skies. the lifeguard at the hotel pool told us they eat baby pigeons and, given the extraordinary number of pigeons in the city, the appetite of kites is probably the only thing that keeps the pigeon population in check. black kites are also known as "pariah kites".
below, a smattering of Bengaluru city wildlife.
i will save MONKEYS for a special offering of their own
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| high flying black kite (distinctive V of tail) |
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| black kite looking for lunch |
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| fluffy legged black kite at the pool |
elegant cousin, Brahminy Kite
used to be called Red Backed Sea Eagle
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| jungle myna |
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| pandemoniums of parrots near Rest House Park |
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| Indian house crow |
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astonishing inside-out beehive rat snake path crosser in Cubbon Park |
