A warning to moms everywhere: you might want to skip this post :)

Yes, despite the most sincere attempts to dissuade me by both Sonia's mom and mine, I took a (short) ride on a motorcycle yesterday. Jagadish, Google's cleaning manager, and I had been talking for sometime about how he was finally going to get his bike (a Bajaj Pulsar - slogan: "Definitely male. Fully loaded at all the right places."), after two-years of saving! This puppy retails for about Rs. 60,000 (US $1375) , with 150cc of pure power. He was stoked! He even bought special sweets for the occasion and handed them out to everyone at the office and guesthouse.

I met him at the office on Saturday afternoon, and he wheels it out in the sunshine... I have to say, it's a good looking bike. He fired it up and tells me to jump on the back... um, okay. I mean, motorcycles outnumber cars here probably 3 to 1 and very few people wear helmets, so odds are I'll be just fine, right? Right. Next thing I know, we're zipping down the middle of the road (very common to drive in the middle instead of your lane), and he asks, "You like crash driving?" Crash driving, as I already knew, is the common term for dodging in and out of traffic, which is the way everyone drives. Lanes are optional, signaling unheardof, and the thought of yielding to pedestrians is downright laughable. As long as you've got a good horn (this bike does -- it's as loud as a car's) and quick reflexes, you're set.

I don't think I'll be taking another ride soon, but I have to admit it was fun. I took a few small videos to try and capture the experience. Click on these links to view:

Note: if the videos are choppy, stop and replay after a second or two.

"You like crash driving?"
"So this is crash driving"
"Hello, bus!"
"Right at the Y... no, left!"
and a fun video of what it's like to try and cross the street