Motorbike & long apparels

The other night on my way to this cyber cafe, I saw the aftermath of an accident. A woman was sitting on the road stuck to her husband's motorbike. She was holding on to a baby. Passerbys quickly went over to help her carry the baby. Her husband tried hard to free her saree from the wheels. Although nothing serious (except for maybe a painful backside), it was shocking for me as well. It could've been a worse event. I told my Indian friend about this and she replied "Yah, it's very common. Very often people die from it".

It is very common to see men driving their bikes with presumably their wifes (rarely girlfriends.. due to the culture here - oh ya, Happy Valentines Day everyone! There are some interesting stories about India's "love police". If I have time, I'll post it right after this... else some other time). The women are usually wearing traditional sarees or salwar khameez. Both are dangerous on the bikes because of the extra long cloth. It gets tangled up easily. Road safety regulations here are not sufficient. People rarely wear helmets. Most prefer to just get the headgear with a screen (to protect from the dust and other particles) rather than a sturdy helmet.

It is also quite rare for women here to dress with "western" clothes. On the streets, it is mainly sarees. At work, most wear the salwar khameez. Anyway, I have digressed... the lady did not look like she suffered much injuries. The baby did not look hurt and was not crying. I was relieved and since they were others helping the couple out, I continued to the cyber cafe.