So in my personal opinion, India is a very dangerous place to live. This is not due to crime, the stray dogs, snakes, or even the crazy driving but more it is the prevailing beliefs of karma and that we all have a predetermined time we will die. These beliefs create a sort of apathy about safety.A few weeks back someone Ken knew was on a train and the door was open. The place to wash your hands was next to the door and while she stood washing her hands the door came loose and knocked her off the train and she was killed. There was no outrage that the door should have been better secured or the place to wash hands should not be next to the door but rather a sense that it was her time to die. Below are a few examples of safety issues we have encountered so far.
Fireworks - For Diwali, everyone is setting of fireworks. At first glance this is not a big deal until you realize that the person setting off fireworks in front of your house have ones that only professionals can get in the USA. They are the ones that go high in the air and burst with the pretty patterns you see from professional shows in the USA. There were many stories in the paper about misfire disasters and there were many close calls. Even the smaller items are very dangerous. B's cap gun exploded and Ken had one bottle rocket misfire.
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| Not sure how the bus driver can see out of the decorated front windshield. |
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| Clean up from the collapsed wall. |
Construction issues - In the community I live in we have a wall surrounding the property. One section of it is leaning over a heavily used road and is in danger of collapsing. In the US, everyone would be urgently trying to get it fixed so it did not collapse and injure or kill someone. However, here they are planning to get it fixed and hopefully they are able to get around to completing the bidding process and committee meetings before it actually falls. It would be unfortunate if someone was hurt by the collapse but it is of the same priority as getting the recycling issues under control, and right after making sure the drivers are not gambling in the guard house or using more than two buckets of water to wash the cars. Many people at the community meeting were much more concerned about water waste than any safety issue. (I started this post a few weeks back and 100 ft section of the wall has since collapsed.)
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| This is on the stairwell heading up to where I get my haircut. |
exposed wires - There are exposed wires everywhere in India. We keep telling the children to make sure they do not touch any wires. Frequently the wires are live and could seriously injure or kill you. This is everywhere from the street light to the building where Ken works.
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| This is a very common scene on a main walkway. |
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| This is the main walkway at IBM |
crossing the street - While being in the car seems scary it is pretty safe. While no one from India uses seat belts we do and I feel as safe here in the car as in the USA. I would not feel safe if I was driving but there is a method to the Indian driving madness. However, crossing the street as a pedestrian is a completely different feel. There is no such thing as crossing at a cross walk and as a foreigner it takes a while to get the hang of crossing the street while cars are passing all around you. You look for a gap and inch your way into traffic until cars are passing on both sides of you and you continue this process until you reach the other side. There are several youtube videos showing this and they are very accurate.
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| Can you see the barefoot pushing the rickshaw? |
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| This is a picture taken from the rickshaw. This is how close cars ride to each other. Frequently, the driver has to put in the side view mirrors and many cars just don't have them any longer. |
Holes in unexpected places- I should say that walking in general is what I think is the most dangerous thing in India. You will be walking along and suddenly there is a 2 feet across, 4 feet wide and 6 feet deep hole. No warning, no tape, no anything. This is not a rare occurrence. I see it just about every time I go anywhere. You are on the sidewalk and suddenly there is a hole just waiting for you to fall in. This also happens with things like railings. There could be glass along a second floor railing for 90% of the rail and then 2 or 3 panes will be missing with no warning signs or tape. You simply must always assume that nothing is a safe environment and pitfalls (literal pitfalls) are waiting around every corner.
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This is a small hole in comparison to many. This is a busy street that cars do drive on.
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This is IBM. Not a big deal but an Engineer would get into trouble for climbing on that table in the USA.
So the next time people complain about the USA being too stringent about safety and our litigious society, remember there is a flip side to that coin and we don't want to go too far in the opposite.direction. |
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