paradeshi

So, I was just got back from my first solo venture across town. It was HECTIC. I had to get from Mukherjee Nagar, where we live, to East of Kailash, where I had an appointment. The mode of travel goes like this: auto-rickshaw from home to the subway, subway to a certain station, and then auto-rickshaw to the appointment, and repeat backwards home. If all goes well, the trip should take about an hour each way. Well, I got to my appointment okay, but the auto-rickshaw driver that was taking me from the subway to my destination got lost and tried to get me to pay for his extra driving around. You see, here in Delhi, there isn't really any set structure for building addresses. You have neighborhoods (Mukherjee Nagar), and addresses numbers; There aren't really any street names. So, in order to get to where you need to go, you have to know exactly where in a neighborhood a particular address number is. My appointment was in East of Kailash, which makes things more confusing, because it is not a neighborhood, it is east of a neighborhood. Long story short, the driver got lost for like 15 minutes and wanted me to pay extra. The trick in those situations is to give him the pre-agreed upon sum of money and walk away.

Things really got tricky on the way home though. First, I had difficulty getting a good price on a rickshaw back to the subway, they all wanted rs. 100 ($2) for a 6km ride. Ridiculous! Finally, I got one for rs. 60, still a bit pricey, but not a rip-off. The subway was uneventful, but the auto-rickshaw ride back from the subway station home was crazy.

So, I get off the subway and walk outside to find that there are no auto-rickshaws in sight. I manage to flag one down and ask him "camp" which I understood to be a pre-determined rs. 5 ride to a pre-determined place. he looks at me like he has no idea what I'm saying. The subway is only about a mile from home, so I decided to walk. Mind you I was a bit turned around and started walking down the wrong street. So I walk for about a half hour before realizing that I'm not where I should be. I know that sounds like a long time to not know where you are going but this part of Delhi all looks the same. It's all the same crazy dilapidated buildings, busy intersections and markets packed with people everywhere. I cannot tell one area from another. Needless to say, I figure out that I am not where I should be and walk back to the subway station. Did I mention that the power went out during my walk. Add pitch black to the crazy traffic and it gets a bit scary.

I figure the best thing to do is take a rickshaw to Mukherjee Nagar at full cost, rs. 15, its a bit more expensive, but at least I'll be home. I jump in the rickshaw and about 1/4 mile later his bike breaks. The pedal snaps off. The driver jumps off the bike, holds up the broken pedal and starts waving it at me as if its my fault his bike broke. I try to offer him rs. 5 for the portion of the trip he took me but he keeps angrily talking at me. I don't understand a word he says, and he doesn't understand a word I say. I turn and walk away and he follows. Finally, I turn, offer him rs. 7 which I forcefully put in his hand and walk away. I guess it worked because he stopped following me. I walked the rest of the 3/4 miles home. Good to be home. Its a crazy city out there.

Well its off to Agra tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal.