And another TOTW about traffic – well, it certainly is a topic in Bangalore, whose streets just can’t put up with all the cars which drive on it. And about cars, I’m going to write today.
The most often seen car is probably the Tata Indicar. A four-seater comparable to the VW Golf, it is used by many taxi services and car & driver rental agencies. Tata is also producing trucks, and most trucks seen on the strees of Bangalore are either made by Tata or by Ashok Leyland. Both companies‘ trucks look the same, as well as most trucks by other companies. Another common truck feature is the huge amound of smoke they blow in the air. Ever heard about filters?
Another favourite is the Toyota Qualis, a Jeep-like vehicle, which is very useful, considering the quality of Indian streets :). Most companies transport their employees either in the Tempo Traveller, which we „enjoyed“ on our trip to Coorg, or on a small bus by Swaraj Mazda. And of course there are the communal buses, either the very old model, or the brand new ones by Volvo.
A common feature of most indigenious cars is the fact that they have no left rear view mirror, which is very useful considering the narrow driving Bagaloreans practice. And they are rather small, especially the minibus used by city taxi, which has the size of an average car, but looks like a VW bus.
However, they always have a melody playing when driving in reverse – very useful in India, where most people seem to drive by ear :). Some have a lame beeping sound, but some play melodies, or even comblete songs. It might be annoying thoug, especially when you have a used car trader in front of your window, who likes to rearrange his parking lot on Sunday mornings…
And of course, not to be forgotten, the ever present rikshaws, which you can always find everywhere.