Obey the Traffic Rule

That's what it reads on the backs of many of the buses in Kolkata. I'm sure that it's just a poor translation and they really meant "Obey the Traffic Rules" ... Then again, I have trouble even coming up with a single rule that they consistently seem to follow. In any case accidents seem to be pretty rare. Today was the first time I saw an accident, and I've been here for over two weeks.

I was on a bus, crossing the major bridge in town. The driver braked suddenly, and then I felt and heard something hit against the bus. All of us passengers held tight, and no one seemed to be thrown around too much. Out the right window I saw a small white car spinning around in the other direction of traffic. Then I saw what looked like a small windshield. Finally, we passed a vehicle turned on it's side. It was an auto rickshaw, and as far as I could tell, its top was completely missing. I didn't see any bodies anywhere, so I have no clue how badly people were hurt. All I know is that a rickshaw is about the last vehicle I would want to be in if I was in an accident.

The bus continued to drive across the bridge as if nothing had happened. It stopped at a bus station and I got off to transfer to another bus. I thought about running back to make sure people were ok and try to help, but I realized it was pretty much just some desire to be a hero and there really wasn't much of anything I would be able to do to help. Then I realized that I was wrong, and took some time to pray as I waited for my bus to come.