B's ultimate guide for driving a two wheeler on a rainy day in Hyderabad

Like I always tell, it is very difficult for a average person to drive through Hyderabad roads on a normal day. Imagine on a rainy day...!! Ha ha ha.... I know, all Hyderabadi's know that we can't even imagine what's it like. It will be a wild west out there!!

So here are some suggestions/tips/recommendations for you guys when you are driving a two wheeler in Hyderabad, when it is raining.

First of all you can't see the road because there will be water up to one feet on the road. Thanks to the Excellent drainage system by M.C.H(Municipal Cooperation of Hyderabad). Just in case if you get to a road where there is no water, then also you cannot see the road properly. Thanks to the Electricity Department which will cut the power off at the very first drop of rain. So make sure that your vehicles light is set to low beam and have the light adjusted so that it illuminates the road ahead, not the persons face who is coming in the opposite direction like most of the vehicle lights in Hyderabad do.

If you are a kind of a person who would like to feel the rain drops crawl through your hair and clean your sweat pores, I recommend you to prepare for certain things before hitting the wet roads. Rain is directly proportional to water logging on the roads and traffic on the road. So, you should have lot of patience to navigate through the traffic avoiding the vehicles which can turn in any direction, without looking at the vehicle in the rear to avoid potholes/Manholes/creators/water.

Talking about Manholes/potholes, remember one thing that there is no standard shape/size or a pattern for these. They can be in the middle of the road, to left, over to the right anywhere so beware of them. Making it worse is the water on the road which will make it difficult to judge where the manhole is or weather it is open, half open or closed or what not. Only one thing you can look for on the water logged roads is for whirlpools, seeing which we can identify where the manhole is. I know what you are thinking......Welcome to Hyderabad.!!

If you are a kind of a person who wants to keep your clothes/shoes neat and away from dirt, forget it. Even if you wait till the rain stops you cannot manage to reach home neat. I see some people folding their trousers up to knees, wearing plastic sheets to avoid getting wet, taking the legs off their bikes way up to the handle to avoid water splashes and doing all kinds of stunts. Believe me guys, its all waste. In spite of trying your best to avoid murky water, at some point or the other a four/six wheeler will leave you with a splash while overtaking you. If you are too cautious to and save your self from these biggies, a fellow two wheeler can mess you up. When following another two wheeler on a wet road, the two wheeler in front will be spilling the dirt right across your face over your shirt/jacket from its rear tyre. (I am sure all the two wheeler drivers might have experienced this. I also, got to taste the dirt in this way many times)

So, even the next day when you are driving for work a fellow two wheeler can spoil your appearance as the roads will be still wet. So, if you want to enjoy the ride and the rain, forget about your clothes, shoes etc. and just drive on!!

One thing I surely recommend is to carry a plastic cover to put in your wallet/papers/cell phone and any electronic device, even if you are carrying a bag. Just dump all your belongings in a plastic cover and put it in your bag because we never know how long it will take for you to reach home and your bag might give up and soak in.

One very important thing we should take care of is not to apply sudden breaks. 'Cause we never know when our bikes gonna slip or lose control. Especially if your bike has a disc break. And also wear a helmet(obviously with the visor up) so that your eyes are protected from being hit by rain drops.

So just keep these tips in mind and drive on....and enjoy the rain.

I did the same yesterday evening going through all the hardships I have mentioned above. But I loved riding in the rain and never got bored in traffic. How can one get bored when Linkin Park, Metallica and Chemical Brothers are playing in your blue tooth headset and wonderful rain from above?

This is what I was like when I reached home after one hour drive in heavy rain:

Me reaching home after 1 hour of drench

If you are a a bit careless on a rainy day in Hyderabad, you can end up like this(The persons face is blurred for security reasons) ;-)