Taste of Delhi

Day two in Delhi concluded. I think I have had an overload of impressions but perhaps not as many as I would have had had I not spent 2.5 months in Nicaragua. The level of poverty is very similar. But I noticed one big difference. The flies. In Nicaragua, no matter where you find yourself (in a city or the most remote area), people will keep flies away from their food. They cover plates, utensils, bottle necks, and glasses with napkins. They wave flies away almost continuously when they sell fruit or cooked food on the street. (Funnily enough, they have invented a simple tool for this - a plastic bag tied to the end of a stick. Works very well.) Well, people here are not at all careful about the flies. They are everywhere in some areas and they land on everything. But anyhow. That as more of a tangential remark. Delhi is quite a hectic place. I have learned several things so far:

1. Big trumps small. That seems to be the primary (and only) rule of driving here. That and the horn-blowing (more below). With the craziness of motorcycles, rickshaws, cars, trucks, and buses (add to that pedestrians and bicycles in some areas) on the roads, I am surprised I haven't seen any accidents yet. Two lanes often are improvised into four or even five lanes of traffic. But somehow magically, everyone knows exactly what to do, where to go, and how to react when driving between a bus and a rickshaw with a car forcing its way before them. Guess the rule works.

2. One hand on the horn. All drivers (whether taxi, rickshaw, car, truck ,or bus) seem to have one hand constantly on the horn and blow it intermittently. Similarly to Nicaragua, it is used to signal to others that you are approaching or passing them or are thinking of passing them (and probably a multitude of other things). As soon as a traffic light changes to green, the first thing that happens is almost everyone blowing their horn. "Here I come," it seems to say. Horn blowing is so ubiquitous that buses and trucks sometimes have the following words written on the back "Horn please." Well, now that you politely asked, don't mind if I do use my horn. Which leads me to another thought.

3. Indians' funny signs. So far I have seen the following: "Speed thrills but kills", "Say no to plastic bags" (posted randomly on the side of the road under a street sign), "Safe operators are smooth operators" (I guess this refers to construction workers since it was posted near construction but I love the pop music reference) and my favorite so far by a landslide: "Ladies are requested to remain seated through the performance" (Guess where? On the inside of a toilet stall door. Yes, the performance :) )


4. The guilt trip. Another major part of being a foreigner in India. Taxi and rickshaw drivers will always try to extract more from you than is the usual fare. I am not trying to be mean or make a generalized statement. This has been my experience here thus far. Out of the 7-8 taxi and rickshaw rides taken so far, only one driver didn't try to up the fare. There are several ways drivers do this. 1) They hide the meter under a towel. You always have to check that it is turned on at the start of your ride. 2) Even if they show you it is working, sometimes it does not move - they have to start it, which they sometimes "conveniently" forget to do. 3) If there is no meter or it isn't working, they will quote you a higher fare than you know you are supposed to pay. One of my classmates got charged 600 rupees for a ride that should have cost 100 at most (she didn't know that at the time). 4) You agree on an amount but once you get to your destination, they suddently quote you a different amount. Once I argued and told the driver that we know the fare should be X amount, he replied by saying, "You not a good madam." Yes, the guilt trip. And then you feel like an *&$hole for denying them the $1. It is not that I really care about the $1 or $2 they are trying to overcharge me, but to me it is the principle of the matter that counts. I would gladly give them that extra money if they just treat me cordially and get me to my destination. But blatantly lying and then pulling the guilt trip card just won't work. I know they don't do it out of spite or any malicious intent, but still.

5. 'I don't know' does not exist in the Indian vocabulary. Similarly to Indians' inability to say "No" is their inability to own up to the fact that they don't know something. Very dangerous when you are a first-timer in Delhi and asking for directions. Last night, our taxi driver couldn't find our street address so he stopped to ask. Well, it was more complicated than that. He didn't speak very good English, so we first had to get him to understand the address we were telling him. Also tough to do, because he would nod (or more correctly, wobble his head in typical Indian fashion), although it turned out he did not understand us. That barrier overcome, he had to explain to the people we stopped the address (which he kept forgetting). We had several night guards point us in what seemed to be the right direction, but our driver was quite unsure and kept stopping every 20-30 meters to ask someone else. We were finally on the right street and asked one final time, when the guy we asked told us (very authoritatively) that such an address did not exist. "But we were there last night," we argued. It was futile. Finally we just continued driving down the street and I recognized a landmark. From there, it was easy. As our hosts told us when we finally made it back, "The more they don't know, the more detailed directions people will give you." :) Guess I will watch out for that next time.

And other than that, we finally managed to do a little bit of sightseeing in Delhi. That was an experience in and of itself as upon leaving the Red Fort we were joined by one man who steadfastly followed us around and kept pointing out landmarks. He did this so well that in the end he spontaneosly turned into our private tour guide. At first, we weren't sure it was a good idea, but in the end after maneuvering the crowded streets of the various bazaars close to the Red Fort, having him around turned into a blessing. He took us to the mosque and the Jain Temple; showed us Silver and Wedding Street (the latter an explosion of colors); popped us into several fabric stores (which may give him a commission, but at that point buying a pashmina, which I would have regardless, seemed like an insignificant price to pay even if that were the case); and had us back at the Red Fort for the Light & Sound Show two hours later. We tipped him and surprisingly he was not unhappy with the amount we gave him.
The trip home was yet another adventure as we braved a bicycle rickshaw ride to a taxi stand after the Light & Sound show, which seemed close to suicidal on the crazy roads. Also, as we got dropped off at the "taxi stand", we realized it was not a taxi stand at all but a parking lot. Our driver had yet again misunderstood us (although he had nodded so emphatically that he would take us to "taxi stand".) We sighed. That's just how things go here. It is never simple. Of course, you make your way to your destination eventually, but how eventually can vary widely. After confirming that indeed there was no taxi stand there, several guys came to our "rescue". "Yes, madam?", "What do you need, madam?" Even simply saying that we needed a taxi caused some confusion.
"Where is the nearest taxi stand?"
"You looking for taxi, madam?"
"Yes, we need a taxi."
"Where is your taxi, madam?"
"We don't have a taxi yet. We need one."
"You told taxi to wait here, madam?"
"No, we didn't come by taxi."
(Looks of confusion at which we try to explain.)
"We need taxi, now."
"Oh, you need now taxi? No taxi here, madam."
"Ok, where then?"
"Taxi at taxi stand, madam."
"Great, where is the taxi stand?" (which, if you were paying attention, was the question we started out with)
It is hard not to get exasperated sometimes. But then you remember that things don't always work the way you are used to in other countries, and why should they? You breathe deeply and move on. And, in the end, you get home.