“He’s not answering the phone.” This was our second contact lost and I could feel my heart begin to sink. We’ve spent the last several hours driving port to port, fighting Mumbai’s legendary traffic during monsoon season looking for a truck painter. I didn’t want to come home with just photos of the beautiful creations that fill India’s streets and highways, but to talk with one of the artists. Being somewhat of an artist myself, wanted to learn what it was like to be a truck painter, a profession that contributes to India’s vibrant cultural and aesthetic landscape but unfortunately is in danger of disappearing.
I fell in love with these ornate, brightly colored trucks on my last trip to India in 2019. During a six hour road trip between my in-law’s hometown to Mumbai I got to see hundreds of these hand painted trucks cruising down the highway.
A folk art that’s like a mishmash of pinstriping, American traditional, and those flashy Japanese Dekotora trucks, it’s an art form with a tapestry of symbols and traditions that stretches back way before motorized vehicles were even a thing.
The Trucks Are Unbelievably Beautiful
On that road trip I took photos of the hand-painted skull and crossbones that adorned many of the chemical tankers. Coming from the U.S. where everything is standardized and mass produced, these paintings were all different and full of character. They got the message across but with some whimsy and fun. The actual trucks themselves are pieces of art.
The driver of our van got some directions from a rickshaw driver, and we pulled behind a small enclave of shanties constructed from tarps and scraps of plywood and waited. We were close to one of the many truck yards that surround the major ports, so I got out and photographed a couple of the trucks nearby. In Indian fashion I was wearing sandals, and was careful to avoid any glass sticking out of the slurry of mud and trash that made up the ground.
Vatsal, my cousin in-law, explained that most of these painters never went to school, they weren’t on google or instagram, didn’t have studios or garages they worked from. Like the truck mechanics, they’d be lucky to be working on a paved surface. He didn’t say this in a judgmental way. Despite the thousands year old caste system being abolished in 1950 (three years after gaining independence from Britain) its remnants are everywhere you look. Upward mobility is almost impossible for many people. The phrase “falling through the cracks” implies some sort of foundation for the mass of people to stand on, which despite some governmental programs like education quotas, doesn’t apply to a large segment of the Indian population.
Thus, to get in contact with a truck painter you had to have some sort of connections. Luckily Vatsal works a lot with the transportation industry and was using his contacts to help me out. Despite an impromptu tour of the cities ports and trucking yards being an unusual request for a tourist, he was now as dedicated as I was to getting an interview.
His phone rang with some good news. His childhood friend had a small truck parts store near one of these yards, and he was able to track someone down who agreed to talk to me. We started off again.
Truck Art In India Has Been Around For A While
According to Discover India’s review of truck art in India, people trace the origins of truck painting to the British Raj, when craftsmen would ornately decorate royal horse drawn carriages and later motorized transportation. Others like Georgia State University’s Farah Ali (who wrote The Bold and The Beautiful – Portraiture in Pakistani Truck Art) say it came much earlier, around 2000 BCE when the Sindh people (modern day Pakistan) would decorate their boats, carts, even animals with shells, mirrors, and jewelry. It is not a surprise that Pakistan is considered the capital of truck painting where the most ornate styles and most famous artists come from. Every region has its own style and symbols that the painters draw from.
Discover India goes on to say that Belford trucks were imported to India from Britain in the 1920’s. After World War II, trucks used for wartime were imported, and exchanged their camouflage for brightly colored stencils that indicated the truck manufacturer. In 1953, GM built a truck factory in Karachi, Pakistan. This is where Haji Hussain, considered the father of modern truck painting, moved from painting murals and decorative ceilings to trucks, after receiving encouragement from another artist who decorated horse carriages, according to ArtNowPakistan.
As transportation boomed in the 60’s, interest in truck painting exploded, and designs got more and more elaborate. Trucks were usually manufactured without a cab, so craftsmen handmade cabs of wood, with a characteristic upper platform or crown, which is ornately decorated. These platforms are used as viewing decks, an outdoor spot to sleep, or a space for extra luggage. Since drivers live in the cab for long periods of time, the interiors are decked out as beautifully as the exteriors, often with a gas stove and a place to sleep for the 3-4 man crew.
As we sped to our next destination the monsoon opened up suddenly with a downpour. Traffic in India is already crazy. There don’t seem to be any rules. Some intersections have lights but most don’t. You just cruise into the intersection and everything sorts itself out. Scooters and motorcycles are very popular because they are inexpensive and easy to squeeze through the bedlam. Rickshaws are also ubiquitous, the sound of their smoky two-strokes filling the air. Since speeds in the cities are low it’s overwhelming for a foreigner at first, but doesn’t seem super dangerous.
Trying To Find A Painter To Talk To: The Roadway Is Chaos
On the highways, however, you have a mix of scooters, motorcycles, heavy trucks and construction equipment vying for space on roads where the lane markers, if they exist, are only suggestions. A scooter may be carrying a family of four, people are pushing ancient carts full of produce, you may have a pack of cows hanging out in the middle of the road — its a free-for-all. These roads can be in pretty good shape until they suddenly aren’t, and you slam the brakes and are thankful for your vehicle’s high suspension. In the rain, these pits fill with water, leaving you guessing how passable it is.
Most of the scooter drivers wisely pulled over and sought shelter from the rain under nearby trees. The taillights of those that remained showed dimly through the windshield as it got hammered with buckets of water, wipers struggling to keep up. Our driver was unfazed, working the brakes and throttle while squeezing our full sized Toyota minivan through gaps I’d be nervous driving a Mini Cooper through. Nonetheless I trusted him fully.
He tapped away at the horn like a Morse Code operator. In India they use the horn as a means of constant communication between drivers, warning each other of their presence, signaling their intentions. My father-in-law said when driving your eyes are so busy you need the audio information from people’s horns to map the road around you. This is why the famous “Horn OK Please” slogan is painted on the back of every truck, encouraging other motorists to warn the truck driver with a few beeps before they try to overtake.
We finally arrived at the shop, a small, dimly lit space on a busy corner stacked floor to ceiling with parts. Directly across the street, trucks were lined up for miles, the drivers waiting for their call to head to the port to pick up or drop off their loads. We were invited to sit behind the counter and someone brought us some Chai, and Indian tradition, while they ran to the nearby yard to grab the painter.
My Chat With A Truck Painter
After a few minutes the painter arrived to speak to us. His name is Kamlesh Shinde, a soft spoken middle aged man with a cricket shirt. He seemed both confused and bemused that this random white guy was in his neighborhood wanting to talk to him. But he was a real good sport, opening up about his profession with my cousin translating.
He’s been a painter for decades, starting as a kid. He said he didn’t have any money or education, so his childhood friend got him into painting trucks and signs for local businesses. He showed me photos on his phone of different signs and trucks he’s painted, including an RV for some Dutch tourists. He said the symbols people request vary geographically, as the different religions and Gods that people follow is still very regional. Portraits of religious figures and poems are very popular to bless the truck and provide protection to the driver.
A popular painting he does is called “Ghar kab aaoge” which translates to “When will you return home?” This depicts a woman sitting under a tree with her head in her hands, showing how the driver’s wife misses her husband during his long days on the road. A cow with her calf symbolizes the driver missing his mother and her spirit protecting him on his travels. Portraits of political figures, famous actors, or prominent athletes (particularly cricket players) are common. Paintings of landscapes or famous landmarks are also popular, showing pride in the driver’s homeland.
Times were getting harder for painters like Kamlesh. Most signs for restaurants and businesses are now printed instead of hand painted. Die-cut vinyl stickers are also cheap, easy to apply, and are becoming popular for customizing trucks. You may notice in the photos that the older trucks have more hand painted designs, while the newer ones are a mix of painting and vinyl stickers. Many of the newer trucks are shipping with full cabs already installed, which further reduces chances for customization.
He wasn’t worried about truck painting going away entirely. There are certain things that are required to be on the outside of the truck that get checked during the yearly RTO (regional transport office) inspection. The “All India Permit” you see painted on many of the trucks is just that, saying the truck is certified to travel throughout India. “Goods Carrier” is another, indicating the type of cargo the truck is allowed to transport.
The printed vinyl doesn’t stand up to the sun, extreme heat and weather that these trucks endure. If the required markings are faded during the inspection, the truck owner can get into trouble. Paint holds up much better to the elements, giving the owner one less thing to worry about come inspection time.
Kamlesh got a call that he had to help with something at the truck yard. He told us to meet him there in about half and hour. Vatsel and I took the opportunity to walk around another nearby truck yard and take some photos. These are large unpaved plots where truckers can wait for their call from the port that their load is ready. There are often mechanics there to make repairs and places to grab a bite to eat.
We walked through one of the yards and took lots of photos. Many of the truckers were visiting with each other, grabbing some food, or sleeping in their cabs with the doors open, waiting for their turn to pick up or drop off their load at the port.
After the truck yard we wandered through a nearby distribution center for foodstuffs. It was quite busy with trucks pulling in and out and people walking around. I got some strange looks, as this is far from a tourist area in Mumbai. I was struck by the variety of colors and styles of the trucks decorations. Each truck is as individual as its owner. Compare this to a distribution center in the US where every truck is basically identical. You occasionally see some customization on US semi trucks, some pinstriping or airbrushing, but its rarely as flashy and creative as this.
How Truck Painting Works
We caught up with Kamlesh back at the truck yard where he was hanging out with his partner in a shipping container. They told us the typical process when a truck comes in. His partner will clean things up, hammer out any dents and spray paint over the damage, then Kamlesh comes in with the hand painting. If there isn’t any rain, since they are working outside, they can do 8-9 trucks a week. They get 1,000 – 1,500 rupees per truck, about $12-18. I read that the more famous truck artists in Karachi, Pakistan doing full coverage, super ornate designs can make 100x that amount.
He said 15 years ago in Mumbai he was mostly painting religious symbols and the required signage for the RTO. Now truckers are asking for more creative illustrations. I asked him what is his favorite thing to paint, he said he likes painting everything, but his favorite is whatever makes the most money. Makes sense to me.
Every truck is different. Often the truck owner will have special requests, other times the painter has more freedom to do as he likes. The symbols chosen make the truck an extension of those who drive it. The religion they follow, pride in their country or hometown, and the interests they have. The popularity of certain phrases or symbols sometimes follow different governmental initiatives. For example, after a campaign against drunk driving, phrases discouraging driving drunk became popular.
More and more people are recognizing the artistry that goes into these trucks, their place in the cultural landscape, and the danger of it all disappearing. The Government of Pakistan commissioned a traveling art show featuring paintings by prominent truck artists done on sheet metal. All India Permit is an initiative started by Farid Bawa that helps promote and preserve truck art with art shows, and collaborations between artists and companies like Levis and Vans. There’s even a hand painted truck in the Smithsonian’s permanent collection in Washington DC.
Kamlesh Even Drew Something For Me!
Wanting my own piece of truck art I had a final request before I had to go: to get a drawing of a “danger” skull, like the ones I saw on my first road trip in India. Kamlesh was happy to oblige. We walked back to the parts shop and he sketched out two drawings in about 15 minutes. One skull and a portrait of Shiva, one of the main Hindu deities.
Vatsal and I thanked Kamlesh and paid him for his time and the drawings, which we put in a plastic bag to shield them from the downpour that started. As we drove to the hotel we passed hundreds of these colorful trucks, each one different from the next. These truck artists are carrying on a tradition that’s much older than the car modifying scene we are familiar with. They contribute to the vibrant, colorful Indian landscape, taking something industrial and utilitarian and making it beautiful. It’s something I feel lucky to have experienced.
Many thanks to Vatsal, I couldn’t have done this piece without him.
I really enjoyed this deep dive into this. This is not a subculture I was really aware of and seeing the people behind it was eye-opening. I really hope we can see some more stories like this in the future
Those are some bodacious Tatas.
As an occasional art car driver and painter myself, the world needs more hand painted vehicles.
These are awesome…I’ve seen them on shows like “World’s Deadliest Roads.” That pic w/ the caption “This driver lives a quarter mile at a time” was hilarious!
One thing I didn’t realize before this article was how strange the doors on these trucks are. Very small, square and very far back. It must give enormous blind zones.
As an Art and Design studies program graduate, someone who loves all things transportation, and someone who greatly enjoys being in the non-tourist areas of a far-away place, this was about as good as it gets for weekend reading – thanks!
Thank you for the great, obscure, fascinating article! Much better than reading more misadventures of one Mr. Collection of Rusty Junk. Oh, and while I’m bitching, Autopian – get rid of the autoplay videos.
I really admire the hard working drivers and love the people from India, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To me, those trucks look like garbage trucks that were tagged by a bunch of graffiti artists. Great article though. Really enjoyed it.
Thanks! Each region has its own style. Some of the trucks in Pakistan are super ornate and well done. The ones I saw on this trip were definitely in rougher condition.
Google Image search “pakistan painted trucks” quickly proves your point. The level of phenomenalness is phenomenal!
I’ve always liked these colorful trucks. Thank you for this fantastic story, shedding some light on mysterious, foreign truck culture.
My first exposure to trucks like these was while training up to deploy to Afghanistan. My team and I were totally overwhelmed by the ornate paintwork and other decorations, and momentarily forgot that we were supposed to be running a vehicle inspection point. Good thing it was only training, and the improvised explosive payload wasn’t real!
All those religious symbols and good luck charms yet not a single swastika?
A++ article. Really, really enjoyable and informative. I was in India (Delhi) for the first time earlier this year and the painted trucks (along with everything else on the road) was incredible.
So jealous yet so appreciative.
Fucking awesome article!
Thanks for the write along.
What an absolutely wonderful article! I loved checking out the truck art when I was in Bengaluru. Down there, the terminology is a bit different (the trucks have “Sound “OK” Horn” written on them), but the description of traffic is spot on. The first time I rode on the back of my partner’s scooter, when he stopped to get petrol, he told me something must be wrong with the bike because it wasn’t running right. As soon as I got off, the vibration he was feeling stopped. Turns out I was shaking from the chaos we were riding through, but within an hour I was totally used to it.
In Bengaluru, as in much of the South of India, the roads are better (like generally better than the roads where I live in PA), traffic signals and road marking are common and well-maintained, but the rules of the road are still more of a light suggestion. Everyone honks all the time, but only to signal their presence. I never saw a single incident of road rage while I was there.
I remember being so impressed at some of the truck art, but I never stopped to think about the people who create it. This was a really neat perspective. In India, there are so many specialists for everything you could ever conceive. It was popular for ridesharing drivers to cover the seats in their cars with custom vinyl covers, and consequently I saw probably a dozen small shops that handmade custom seat covers. You could get a full set of custom tailored seat covers for the equivalent of about $15, and the fit and stitching was literally perfect. Some of the cars I rode in even had cool logos or decorations on the vinyl.
One of the things I want to mention, which is in no way the fault of the author, is that westerners tend to visit large cities in the North of India. Mumbai is pretty much dead in the middle, but the infrastructure and culture is definitely more Northern than Southern). The South of India is generally nicer. I already mentioned that the roads in Bengaluru were excellent, but the roads and sidewalks were also clean, like way cleaner than NYC clean. The weather in Bengaluru is also amazing. It rains for 2-3 months on and off, but the rest of the year is a literal paradise and it can go months without any rain (but there is a large river that runs through the city, so they don’t really have drought issues). The metros there put the NYC subways to shame – they were so clean and on time to the second, not to mention cheap!
I only mention this because Westerners tend to get the idea, from reading about Mumbai, Deli, etc. that India is very much so a developing nation with lots of infrastructure compromises, poverty, filth, etc. That is definitely true in much of India, but down South, it’s a different story. Bengaluru is beautiful, as is much of Karnataka. The homelessness rate in Bengaluru puts just about every large US city to shame. Kerala, which is even further South, has a higher literacy rate and lower mother and infant mortality rate than a lot of Southern US states!
Honestly if money was no object, I would happily spend the rest of my life in India. It is an amazing country and I am glad to see it getting some attention on this site.
Thanks for the comment! I’ve only been around Vadodara and Mumbai but we hope to see more of India on our next trips. It’s such a big place with so much to see. Really happy you liked the article!
If you ever get a chance to go to Bengaluru, I can’t recommend it enough. Only problem is that it isn’t a touristy city, so there are a lot of people who only really speak Kannada. My partner is from there so this wasn’t an issue for me.
Apparently Goa is very nice and more of a tourist friendly area.
Anyway I hope we get more articles like these! It might be worth looking into the really interesting domestic cars in India, the non existent used car market, etc.
I hear snakes can be a problem.
Snakes? Snakes are a problem where I live in PA. Not sure what kind of problem you mean but I didn’t see a single one when I was over there
There were stray dogs everywhere but they ended up being a complete non-issue.
“Not sure what kind of problem you mean”
This kind:
“An estimated 1.2 million people have died from snake bites in India in the past 20 years, a new study has found
…
The average risk of an Indian dying from snake bite before reaching 70 years is approximately 1 in 250, but in some areas the risk approaches 1 in 100, the study says.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53331803
“There were stray dogs everywhere but they ended up being a complete non-issue”
Its not the stray dogs you gotta be careful of:
“With a monkey population of more than 50 million, there have been at least 13 deaths caused by monkey attacks across India since 2015. More than 1,000 cases of monkey bites are reported every day in Indian cities, according to a government run primate research centre.”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/monkey-gang-wars-killing-people-in-india/
Okay so let’s address the monkeys first- India has 1.8 BILLION people and you’re worried about 15 people dying since 2015!? You have a better chance of being struck by lightning twice in a plane and crashing.
I can’t speak to the issue with snakes. They aren’t an issue in Bengaluru. I sometimes hang out with a group of Indians from all over the country, so I can ask them, but you’re kind of proving my point. People assume India is homogenous and it isn’t. It is the most populous country in the world and it is HUGE, encompassing mountain ranges that have snowpack permanently and massive cities like Bengaluru where it has never snowed, ever. I can assure you, you can visit India without dying from a snake bite.
“More than 1,000 cases of monkey bites are reported every day”.
That’s not nothing. Probably also under reported since they mention reports in cities.
“I can assure you, you can visit India without dying from a snake bite.”
And I have no doubt that’s true. Lots of people visit India without being bitten. For the folks who live there its a different story though.
“People assume India is homogenous and it isn’t. It is the most populous country in the world and it is HUGE”
Its ~1/3 the size of the US. Not small nor what I’d call HUGE.
195 counties in the world and someone from the 4th biggest thinks the 7th biggest isn’t also huge.
I live in a country you can cycle across in a day. India is huge.
To you maybe. Not to us.
I am from the US, and I can assure you that I find India huge too, because it is.
India is 1,269,219 square miles in size. The United States is 3,794,100 square miles in size which by my calculator is almost exactly 3x the size of India.
If you find India “huge” fine but the numbers don’t change because of that. To me only Russia is “huge” and that’s because its land mass is 2x that of the United States. Canada and China are pretty much the same and all other countries are smaller as far as geography go.
India is indisputably huge in population but less so in geographical size at least to this go by the numbers American.
Thanks so much for this – it’s great to hear about an area that just doesn’t get US press. I, for one, had no idea that Bengaluru was so nice – now I want to go there! I wonder if the travel hazards (death on trains, violent vomiting, etc.) are also woefully outdated?
Well, I can address a few!
FYI Bengaluru is only the third most populous city in India and it still has almost 8 MILLION more people than NYC, so it is truly massive. You could spend your entire life in that one city and not discover everything.
Yeah so the trains are going to vary across the country. The metro in Bengaluru is amazing. There are separate cars for women traveling alone and men are not allowed in there. They are kept spotless. Every time the metro comes to the end of the line, dozens of women descend on it and scrub the inside clean in about 5 minutes. They can be crowded, but no more crowded than an NYC subway, and people in Bengaluru are a lot… neater and cleaner than some of the people I’ve had the pleasure of sitting/standing next to on the NYC subways.
You can’t drink tap water, similar to a lot of countries in the world. However, I accidentially did and had no ill effects. Whoops! Bottled water is cheap and plentiful and my hotel even supplied 1 liter per day complimentary.
My partner is a doctor and feels that the care you receive in India is better than in the US. I think he could write a book about why but, as he has practiced in both countries, I am inclined to believe him. If I ever got violently ill, I’d much rather be treated in a hospital in Bengaluru than the US. As someone who struggles with GI issues, my stomach never felt better than when I was over there. They don’t have much processed food so I was eating really healthy, and I think that’s why.
Some parts of India have issues with Malaria, but Bengaluru isn’t really one of them. Dengue fever is around but it’s very rare. Interestingly they don’t really have West Nile or Zika virus over there, and also the mosquitos were way less annoying than they are where I live in PA.
One big advantage India has over us, which the media never highlights, is that gun violence isn’t a thing in India. Guns aren’t allowed; not even the police have them, so homicide by gun and mass shootings just don’t happen (or are incredibly rare). We have people worried about snakes and monkeys but everyone in the US is taking a huge risk just going out in public because of the gun violence epidemic we’re facing. It’s one of the reasons I hope to eventually move to India all or most of the time.
“One big advantage India has over us, which the media never highlights, is that gun violence isn’t a thing in India. Guns aren’t allowed; not even the police have them, so homicide by gun and mass shootings just don’t happen (or are incredibly rare). We have people worried about snakes and monkeys but everyone in the US is taking a huge risk just going out in public because of the gun violence epidemic we’re facing.”
You REALLY should be more concerned about the snakes:
“Assaults by firearm kill about 13,000 people in the US each year, and this translates to a roughly 1-in-315 lifetime chance of death from gun violence. The risk of dying in a mass shooting is about 35 times lower than that, with a 1-in-11,125 lifetime chance of death.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-gun-death-murder-risk-statistics-2018-3?op=1
Vs.
“The average risk of an Indian dying from snake bite before reaching 70 years is approximately 1 in 250, but in some areas the risk approaches 1 in 100, the study says.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53331803
Danger from snakes > danger from guns >>> danger from mass shootings.
1 in 5 US citizens die of heart disease, but foreigners always worry about guns instead of the food.
You gotta die of something.
Why not something delicious?
KFC FTW!
I can prevent CAD by eating healthy and exercising. I cannot prevent a homicidal maniac from killing me via firearm because I need the government to restrict access to guns, and ours won’t.
You can reduce your risk of CAD but no, you can’t eliminate it:
But the other causes should also be considered. In broad numbers, about 4% of heart attacks in young adults are triggered by inborn abnormalities of the coronary artery anatomy. Five percent can be attributed to blood clots that originate elsewhere and are carried in the bloodstream to otherwise normal coronary arteries, where they block the artery. And in another 5%, various disorders of the blood clotting system increase the risk of clot formation throughout the circulatory system, including in coronary arteries.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/premature-heart-disease
Its not unheard of for even Olympic athletes to die of heart disease:
“On 20 November 1995, Grinkov collapsed and died from a massive heart attack in Lake Placid, New York, while he and Gordeeva were practicing for the upcoming 1995–1996 Stars on Ice tour.[1][10] Doctors found that Grinkov had severely clogged coronary arteries (to the point where his arterial opening was reportedly the size of a pinhole), which caused the heart attack; later testing revealed that he also had a genetic risk factor linked with premature heart attacks. The risk factor is called the PLA-2 variant and is also known as the “Grinkov Risk Factor”.[11] Grinkov was 28 years old. His wife was 24 and their daughter was 3 years old.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Grinkov
A couple of friends were over in Maine last month and they told me “everything you’ve heard about the food over there is true”.
That’s not a complement.
I’m confused – your friends were in Maine or India? I can’t imagine the food in Maine is much different than the food in PA, and I don’t know what that has to do with this discussion. Regarding food in India – it’s freaking amazing! I’ve never tasted such good food in my entire life. I guess it depends on your pallet. I love Indian food and like trying food from different cultures. If you’re used to the typical American diet, it could be quite a shock. There is nothing like eating homemade masala dosa with mint chutney in India – nothing in the US will compare.
Of course you probably don’t want to eat from certain street vendors. It’s pretty easy to know which ones to avoid. If the Indians aren’t eating at them, you don’t want to either.
Maybe it depends on how robust your local Indian community is. Here in the SFBA we have an extensive Indian community so it’s not hard to find excellent Indian restaurants, grocery stores, bazaars and Sikh temples.
It absolutely does. There are pockets of places that have excellent Indian food in the US and areas where everything is lackluster at best. However even the best food my partner and I can find in the US is still a tier below similar restaurants in India, and even that is a tier below the godlike food my partner’s mother prepared for us (all the while confused why I was thin and didn’t eat much despite being American).
Again, you are treating India like there is an equal risk everywhere. Snakes are not an issue in Bengaluru, and probably a lot of other places.
Also, I just read the article you keep linking. It appears that most deaths appear in farming communities where people lack access to medical care. Again, this is not an issue in Bengaluru because (a), it is a huge city and not a farming community and (b), there are hospitals everywhere.
From the article:
“Some 70% of the snake bite deaths occurred in eight states – Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana, a new state) Rajasthan and Gujarat.”
Notice which state isn’t on there? Karnataka. I would care about snake bites if I was visiting a farming village during monsoon season. I am not worried about visiting what is basically the Indian NYC, but where everything is cheap, clean, and the weather is permanently beautiful.
Bengaluru: Snake bites claimed at least 36 lives in Karnatak ..
this year. According to data from Integrated Health Information Platform, 5,418 cases were reported in the state this year.
These figures could just be the tip of the iceberg, though. Snake-bite cases are still grossly under- reported, said Dr Ansar Ahmed, project director of Integrate Disease Surveillance Programme.
“Only 10-15% of cases admitted in private hospitals are being reported,” Dr Ahmed told TOI on the sidelines of a workshop organised Wednesday to finalize an action plan for snake-bite prevention and management.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/snake-bite-cases-in-karnataka-5k-reported-36-deaths-in-2024/articleshow/111645095.cms
Now how many venomous snakebites have been in NYC this year?
Man, if you want to let snakes (seriously, snakes!?) scare you away from visiting India, you do you. Although I might suggest therapy to help with your debilitating phobia.
I bet you could find a reason not to visit any country. Lots of Indians, including my partner, view gun violence in the US to be a lot scarier than… snakes.
That’s why I posted the numbers. A person has a much higher chance of being killed by a snake in India than by a gun toting nut job in the United States. Tourists maybe even more so since they are less aware of the danger or the particularities of Indian snakes.
If your Indian friends are so concerned with gun toting Americans they should realize they LITERALLY face a much greater danger in their own backyards.
Awesome piece, Steven!
Thanks Stephen!
Upward mobility is almost impossible for many people. The phrase “falling through the cracks” implies some sort of foundation for the mass of people to stand on, which despite some governmental programs like education quotas, doesn’t apply to a large segment of the Indian population.
And thus the conundrum of “phone scammer banks”, I am willing to assume that the people who set up and run them are scum, but I’m sure most, if not a vast majority of people working them are in these cracks and just trying to get out, never mind up.. A dry place to live and a meal a day can sway anyone’s moral compass.
It should be noted that, while the issues with the Indian diaspora are definitely an issue in some Indian states, especially ones controlled by the BJP, this isn’t the case everywhere in India. In some places, especially large cities in the south, caste doesn’t really come into play for the most part. However Hirjas are pretty much mistreated everywhere, sadly, so they may be targets for phone banks, etc.
Very enjoyable read, was not aware of the truck culture in India.
Thanks!
Great way to deal with Indian traffic in a monsoon! The painted touches are nice especially when you consider that in lieu of making the trucks, you know actually safer, the government allows painters to just illustrate Evil Eyes, AUM and blessings. I love how some of the trucks even have hand-painted license plates!
It’s like driving a Corvair through modern Manhattan with “1-car Accident”, “2-nd Collision” and “Seatbelt OK please!” painted all over it.
Traffic in India moves very slowly. 50kph feels like warp speed over there. In large cities, it’s like Manhattan traffic or worse. You’re never really going fast enough to get into a bad accident.
Many of the petrol cars over there have CNG conversions, and the tank will literally be installed in the trunk of the car. They’re never going to get rear ended at 100+kph like in the US, so safety concerns aren’t as high a priority.
That makes sense – it’s a big country but the population is so HUGE and more and more people are likely on the road every year. It’s tough to get my brain around if we had the pop of India we’d have more than 4x the people we do now. I imagine traffic would grind to a halt. But maybe that would lead to alternative modes of transportation: high-speed rail, carless downtown areas, free electric charging, etc.
I think the lack of rules for the road and ubiquity of motorcycles/scooters is why traffic doesn’t grind to a halt in the large cities over there, although if you’re taking a car somewhere during rush hour, it can definitely feel like you’re barely moving.
I’d rather be stuck in traffic in India than NYC though. People are so much more laid back and nice over there. In NYC road rage is totally out of control (imho).
India has pretty good rail transport to almost all corners of the country, but it definitely isn’t high speed. I know Indians who somewhat regularly take a 12-hour train (one way) to visit a family member in another state!
Fantastic article! Most of my memories of the roads in India are of cowering in the back seat of some 800cc taxi as my driver honked his horn and attempted to overtake several of these trucks up a blind hill.
It was several days before I found out why I always got the same driver: the other guys on the team knew he was Christian, and believed his sins would be forgiven, while the careful driver was Hindu, and believed his behavior would determine his lot in the next life.
Nothing gets the blood pumping more than riding in a hired car on the road between Mysore and Bangalore (now Bengaluru) after dark. Pucker factor gets high as a Layland bus, 2 cargo trucks, 4 rickup trucks and a dozen or so 2 wheelers all try to pass each other at the same time on a small two lane road….before an equal amount of oncoming traffic arrives from the opposite direction.
We started joking on taking bets for how long it would take for emergency services to show up, cut us out of the car and get to hospital. Out driver finally said that it was a stupid wager because we’d probably die fairly quickly if we wrecked and emergency services would take a couple hours just to respond. He was a real buzz kill.
HAHA I’m planning to take that road after dark next time I’m in India! I’d better bring a blindfold….
And some extra underwear!
Haha great story! Going on a cab ride is definitely a must when going to a new country. Some are a lot more white knuckle than others!
I love these articles that review some obscure (or not) customization from another country, small group, or anything unique and interesting. It’s awesome to see the creativity people from different areas and groups bring to the table.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Incredible artwork. Excellent article!
Thank you!
This is a fantastic article.
Thanks glad you enjoyed it!