Before coming to India, some people asked me if Indians drive on the left or right side of the road. Upon coming here, I found that the answer is yes.

Indian roads are an experience, to say the least. They’re not just for vehicles; in addition to the cars, buses, scooters and auto rickshaws, the roads are space for people, dogs and the occasional cow. But there’s an unseen order in the chaos.

Like everything in India, there’s a hierarchy for the road that is not visible to the newcomer. First, the buses. Buses in India, or at least in my experience, literally don’t follow laws. They drive like maniacs. Buses fly down the road, and if you hear a bus honk, you get out of the way, no questions asked. It may or may not hit you, and let me tell you, that’s not a risk you should be willing to take here. This is a terrifying experience when you’re outside of the bus, and sometimes when you’re on it. However, it can also be a great time, especially if you’re pretending that you’re on the Knight Bus in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.”

Second in the hierarchy is the cars. Cars bow down to the buses, getting out of their way as soon as possible, but they don’t hesitate to take on the auto rickshaws and scooters. The exception here is taxis; sometimes they’ll even take on the Almighty Buses through excessive speed and overuse of the horn.

Lastly, the auto rickshaws and scooters. Here’s the catch: they both think they’re higher than the other in the hierarchy. They honk at each other and scoot their way forward in traffic to fight for their space until one of the drivers is forced to give in. When two vehicles of the same type encounter each other, there is a similar occurrence, usually with passive aggressive glares to assert their dominance.

In case you haven’t noticed, the horn is a very prominent tool in Indian driving. Throughout the semester, my friends and I have compiled a list of over 20 reasons to honk in India. I won’t bore you with the details, but some of my favorites include: “you see a scooter,” “you are passing the scooter,” “you’re mad that the scooter is passing you,” “the neighborhood is a little too quiet for you,” “you forgot what your horn sounded like” and “you aren’t already honking.”

Experiencing all of this as a pedestrian is even worse than in a vehicle. You are more or less exempt from the hierarchy and your place in it depends only on your own determination. If you decide it is your time to walk in front of that car, they’ll stop for you. You know “the hand” that your mom gave you when you were an angsty pre-teen that told you that she was done arguing and that you should stop arguing with her and just give in? Pull that out. Pull out your mom hand, and start walking. They’ll stop. Too timid? Good luck crossing the road. Maybe pull out a book to read while you wait for the traffic to clear; you’ll be waiting a while.