India is a unique country. It’s a vast landmass that could count as a continent in its own right, filled with a rich and unique culture, spicy cuisine and colorful people. In a country where people ride on top of trains and cows get permission to sit in the middle of the road, it goes without saying that things are different.
For those who go to India the first time, the noise, color, aromas and general business in the streets may be an intense invasion of the senses, but for those who are veteran visitors to the sub-continent will still experience things that will still make you take a double take reinforce the notion that you are well and truly away from home, and that’s precisely why we love India so much.
Life is not boring here, and here are some examples to show you just how crazy things can get.
Chilies used as weapons
Indian food is famed for being spicy, and for some delicate constitutions this may be a bit too much, but used as a weapon? Sure a strong vindaloo might give you a classic case of the good old “Delhi belly”, but you’re not going to toss a chili at your enemy in battle, are you?
However, it looks like the Indian military has cottoned onto your tears as you tuck into your extra spicy curry and have taken the strongest one of all, the “bhut jolokia”, which means “ghost chili” in English, and condensed its horrible sting to make hand grenades which act like tear-gas, with the plans to use it as a way to immobilize suspects.
The chili has more than 1,000,000 Scoville units, making it one of the hottest chilies on the planet. Aside from using the bhut jolokia in riots, it could also be developed into a form of pepper spray.
Photos of deities used to ward off public urination
People urinate in public a lot, and it’s a common site to see men peeing against walls and wherever they can go. While some argue a solution to this problem is to install better public toilets, other want a more immediate approach, by drumming and blowing whistles in disapproval.
However, until better toilets are installed around India’s towns, people will continue to urinate in public. But for now, it looks like putting up pictures of gods serves as a good deterrent for people looking for a place to pee in public, it seems like people are using divine intervention to help stop people peeing in the streets.
Onion theft
As prices increase for food staples in India, grocery robbing instead of bank robbing is in vogue. Last year, a band of robbers made off with a truck of onions, after a supply shortages caused the prices to rocket.
The men who stole the shipment on a road in Jaipur faked a car accident to get the truck to stop, before driving off with the onions. The police managed to catch the onion heist.
Trucks encourage honking
India is known for being loud, and cars are no different, but when you hear horns being honked in the street, it’s not something aggressive. In fact, honking is encouraged. You’ll find some trucks actually have the words “Horn OK, please” written on the back.
If you drive an auto rickshaw through South India’s streets, the chances are you’re going to honk your horn at least 150 times a day, unless you want to look like a tourist. Those are just the conservative numbers. In heavy traffic, horns go off at least once every 30 seconds, and the average rickshaw horn can go up to 93 decibels, not unlike a pneumatic drill!
Driving in in India is literally a deafening experience; where all those rickshaw horns add up to the traffic equivalent of a jumbo jet during take off.
