If you can drive in Bombay, you can drive anywhere on the planet. I have heard this said to me more often than I care to remember, but don't really think it's true. Yes, Bombay's roads do prepare one for everything that is horrific about human nature, but I can't believe anyone who says drivers in other Indian cities behave any better. I learned this the hard way on the Delhi-Agra highway a few years ago. I was at a traffic light and couldn't understand why vehicles of all shapes and sizes chose to drive on a side of the road that was clearly not meant for them. For a minute, I had to cross-check with a map to make sure I wasn't the one doing something wrong.

Yes, Bombay has awful drivers, but I couldn't think of any of them being stupid enough to simply drive against traffic. In Agra, however, I could simply stand and stare while this happened all day. I asked a local how this was possible, and whether it was unusual. 'It's normal,' came the reply, followed by the pertinent question: 'Who's going to stop them?'