Karaikal Via Two Senses: Sight and Sound

Karaikal is constantly on the move. I’m very curious to get to Delhi to figure out whether this is just how things are in Karaikal or whether this pace is just a way of life in India (I suspect the latter).

For now though, below is a video that gives you a slice of a typical street scene at about 8:30 at night. Note all of the sounds: bicycle bells, cars and buses honking, tuk-tuks (the smaller motorized rikshaws) and motorcycles with their quacking sounds. There are even booming voices in the background on a loud speaker.

The street noise begins at about 5 am and doesn’t stop until around midnight – and in the un-insulated confines of the Paris International Hotel, you hear most of it plainly.

The other thing you’ll notice in the clip is the traffic. Everything is in the street – from cows and goats to humans and anything with wheels and miraculously none of it ever collides. Enjoy!

Video by Amie Shaw (our pediatrician). :)

By day you can actually see what's going on. The bigger the vehicle you're
in the more likely you'll win the war of squeezing your way wherever you want to
go. Notice the but in the middle over-packed with people. That's how people
get around if they are not on a motorcycle or lucky enough to have a car.

This is a two-lane street and my view from the front seat. It's all coming at you full speed.
Nothing spells adrenaline like this view. I kept praying for the brakes to be in good shape.