test dummies?

We went back to Pondicherry this weekend to relax and buy some wine. Pondi (though I am loathe to do it, I will begin to use the common casual name for the place) is the only place where one can buy wine to take home. Due to an archaic tax regulation structure, one can only buy wine in Chennai at a hotel bar or restaurant, where it is taxed 70% above regular sale price for foreigners. Now we are no longer foreigners because we possess Tamil Nadu Residency cards, but the price is still high and there is still no way to get bottles of wine into your own home. So one drives to Pondi. (Mind you, we still have loads of wine from our HHE shipment, but one can never be too prepared. We are good Boy Scouts, though we may not be very thrifty or reverent).

The big excitement about this particular trip to Pondi, however, was not the procurement of wine but the fact that Christopher drove the Ambassador there himself. And I got to sit in the front seat. It was extremely thrilling. Where I generally sit in the back and dork around or try to remember important landmarks, I now get to see the general mayhem that is Indian traffic and cringe with vigor about every 17 Seconds (that came out that way naturally and without forethought . . . may The Cure fans be proud.).

While Indian road rules appear to be utter chaos, there is actually a very well defined and rigid system of behavior. If one deviates from it, it is very easy to die. However, if one understands it and respects it, it is pretty easy to drive. This coming from a person who does not drive, but I can SEE it, man. Chris is a fantastic driver and has adapted to the system here well. Only twice did we actually approach death. We had a wonderful drive and are now busy planning the road trip that we will take across the south with Rob. May God have mercy on his soul . . .