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Woman shares ‘survival guide’ to crossing Hyderabad roads: ‘Just show your hand and walk’
A woman shared her experience of crossing five busy roads in Hyderabad while navigating relentless traffic.
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Crossing a busy road can be a routine part of the day, but in some Indian cities, pedestrians often have to navigate relentless traffic, limited signals and vehicles that rarely stop. A woman in Hyderabad has captured that experience in a video showing how she managed to make her way across five different road crossings.
(Also read: ‘You just run and hope for the best’: Foreign woman shares struggle with crossing roads in India)
The clip, shared on Instagram by Nandhini Saripalli, documents her attempt to cross the roads while explaining the tactics she uses to safely get to the other side.
‘Let’s see if I survive’
“I’m going to show you how to cross roads here in India. I’m basically in Hyderabad, and I have to go to the other side of there. And I have five crossings to make. So, yeah. Let’s see if I survive and will show you how I do it,” Saripalli says at the beginning of the video.
As vehicles continue moving past her, she adds, “No one’s ever going to stop, so you have to kind of just make way,” pointing out that some stretches do not even have zebra crossings.
At another crossing, she spots a zebra crossing but notes the absence of a traffic signal. “They’re never going to stop. I have someone here who I can take cover. Just kind of show your hand. Yes. And there you go. Second one done,” she says.
Later, as she tries to navigate another busy stretch, Saripalli decides to follow other pedestrians. “We’re just going to show the hand and just walk through the vehicles,” she says.
At one point, she misses an opportunity to cross and watches another pedestrian make his way through traffic. “You see that man just crossed. I think I should have done that,” she remarks before trying again.
After finally completing all five crossings, she concludes: “So, not for five crossings, and, yeah, I made it alive.”
‘A very different kind of driving’
Sharing the clip, Saripalli wrote in the caption: “Watch and learn. I live in Goa, so I’m definitely not used to crossing roads like this. It’s a very different kind of driving here… although, to be fair, this is pretty normal in many of India’s bigger cities. Five crossings later, I made it.”
Watch the clip here:
Internet reacts
The video prompted several reactions from social media users, many of whom found the situation familiar. One person wrote, “Crossing roads shouldn’t feel like a survival challenge.” Another said, “This is stressful just to watch.”
(Also read: Indian woman says Dubai road rule left her confused in India: ‘I was waiting for the driver to stop’)
HT.com has reached out to the user for her comments, and the copy will be updated once her response is received.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
