A perfect example of this phenomenon is the traffic in the cities. The laws and standard conventions that dictate driving habits back home are alien to the whole enterprise here. In fact I think that the American philosophy of driving, if used here, would put a driver at considerable danger. Even the most hectic of U.S. roadways, found in places like Manhattan, Jersey City, and Californian interstates never approach the madness of Indian cities. Buses cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, ox-driven carts and pedestrians all converge into a maddening heap. Lanes, if painted on the roads at all, only seem to invite the mockery of the auto-rickshaw drivers as they straddle them in an attempt to circumnavigate obstacles. It truly seems as if the only rule is that they are no rules and that arriving at one's destination by the quickest route justifies the means by which it was done. However, in truth there are unwritten, unspoken rules of the road.
Probably the most glaring example of this paradox is the usage of horns here. I'm certain that my intitial response to the cacophany of honking upon arrival in India was similar to that of most Americans. Despite what our driving school instructors teach us, in the US horns are used almost exclusively in a reactionary, usually emotional manner. Now, they certainly used this way in India, but the vast majority of the time horns actually serve as a warning or caution to others. It's actually a curtousy to other travelers, an aid to help them avoid accidents. This conclusion is reinforced by ubiquitous signs of the backs of autos reading "Horn Please." It's a necessary measure to avoid accidents in a situation where every driver is constantly maneuvering to optomize his position. Without enforced driving rules, and with the understanding that every driver will do what he must to get by whatever is in front of him, Indians have developed this etiquette in everyone's interest.
At first, these honks evoked the same unsettling reactions they would in the US: fear of an impending collision, reactionary anger and/or annoyance. However I'm beginning to learn to take it as the courtesy it is meant to be and use it to make informed navigational decisions. At the same time I'm trying to use this discovery to become more comfortable with the idea that although many of the laws of this country are not followed, this is not a lawless country. Formality is replaced with informality, and the rule of necessity trumps written statutes.
