"Accidents Bring Tears, Safety Brings Cheers"

The road from Bangalore and Mysore is marked every kilometer or so with signs urging safety. The titular warning is my favourite; "Donate blood, but not on the road" is a close second. "Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer" seems to lack the drama an Indian highway necessitates. 

Sunrise, highway from Mysore to Bangalore. 

 A small fire started on the plane from Frankfurt to Bangalore, and we had to disembark (okay, it was a burning smell and we were still at the gate), so clearly safety was a theme of the journey.

I wonder if the pilot had the same icons in the plane - they certainly served the taxi driver well, and me, by extension.

And I thought I was going to die on the way to Mysore. If lanes are marked on the road, no one heeds them. My driver, a charming speed demon named Manu, zipped between lorries, auto-rickshaws, and, once, some oxen, merrily honking his horn the whole way:

I am no slouch at the wheel myself, but his driving made me want to throw up.
He did stop here though:

Huge Ganesh!

And he bought me a chai, so all is well. Oh, and I'm still alive.

I've been in Mysore for just over two days. I've settled in, registered at the shala, practiced led primary, and attended a conference. More on all that next post!

The journey here seems so long ago...