Driving in India - this and that

For all of us-drivers in India- a truck or motorcycle going in the wrong direction is normal- as are cows, people and goats stuck in the middle of the road, as are cars doing u turns just beyond a corner, as are people parked 8 feet from the pavement on an empty road, as are ......
It's only when you drive with someone who has never experienced our roads like a firang... that it actually seems to register.

Most of us (35+) year olds have grown up with comparatively empty roads and a basic knowledge of how to repair your own car. You knew what to check on the Premier or Ambie before you left each morning and what needed to be checked if you were off on a longer drive, unlike the fact that 50% of breakdowns today are because the bonnet has not been opened for a year and some small simple fluid has finally run out.

When WD40 was heard of it was the miracle drug for Premier Padminis which conked off when they saw water, unlike the present cars which go through raging streams unaffected. Punctures were an every week occurrence, even with Radials and my father and I--regular travelers--could change a tyre as a team in 4 minutes flat. Ask a youngster today to help change a type and he/she would probably ask "where is the jack" "how does it work"...

Driving was something you perfected while the "old man" sat next to you and gave you gaalies if you faltered, until you finally got it right.
Overtake on a corner at your own peril, not from the danger of the truck you may narrowly miss but from your 'dangerous when confronted with driving errors' Pop.

Tarun you better watch out boy!