The Pilgrim’s Progress

This is my first time to travel to a country where I don’t speak the language. Everyone should do it at some time or another because it will give you much more patience and sympathy for people in our own country who are struggling to learn English. At any rate, the part of my day that I dread the most is catching a rickshaw before and after work. First, I dislike it because it necessitates bargaining. I hate bargaining, period. It constantly poses an ethical struggle for me. I know that most of the people here are scraping by, and while I will hardly miss the fifty cents that I overpay, they can use every rupee they can get; yet, I don’t want to enable or be the victim of deceitful behaviors. But secondly, and the more immediate cause of stress, is that the driver and I will have to fumble through some meager form of communication that often consists of hand signals until someone gets frustrated and gives in so that a price can be determined. This is the process that I have been going through at least twice every day.

Yesterday morning I was in the middle of this process. I had already turned down one driver who tried to charge me double the rate, when a second rickshaw driver stopped for me. Honestly, at first his appearance frightened me a little, but I think it is mostly because he reminds me of some of the bad guys in Indiana Jones Temple of Doom. He is very hairy with a long, curly black beard. He wears a black turban with ashes on his forehead that appear to be permanently encrusted there; however, he does have very kind-looking eyes. His English is also the most difficult to understand of anyone I have come across (Of course, it is not his fault that our communication is so laborious. I’m in his country and unable to speak the regional language. I am just appreciative that he is so persistent to be understood.) After some difficulty, we agreed on a price— 40 rupees, or a little less than $1 USD.

Then we have the whole directions problems again. We weaved in and out of the streets of Golf Links Colony looking for my office building, pulling over multiple times to ask for directions. The rickshaw driver continuously tried to speak with me, but between his broken English, my lack of Hindi, and the roar of the engine, I could hardly understand anything he said. Finally, he pulled over the rickshaw and stopped the engine. He turned around in his chair and put his hand on my arm as if to say, “Ok… let’s give this attempt at conversation our full attention.” Somehow, all the effort worked. We drew numbers on our hands, then he pulled out a piece of paper, and we scribbled things back and forth on it. He spoke in two-three word phrases, but I eventually understood. He was asking me if I would like him to pick me up for work every morning at 9. He could also pick me up in the afternoon. He would only charge me 30 rupees each way. This saves me the daily haggle, and it would ensure that my driver would know where my home and office was. I consented, and we exchanged names and shook hands. My new official rickshaw driver is named Sunni.

I am also really enthralled with the idea of seeing monkeys roaming the streets. I saw monkeys in the jungle when I was in Guatemala, but that was in a nature preserve; these are city monkeys that are not constrained by fences or cages! Apparently, Delhi residents do not share the same sentiments. The monkeys cause many problems… they will open the door to your house and come in and break things, people have had to wrestle their infants away from their clutches, and recently, a man died instantly when a monkey threw a flower pot off a roof, striking him in the head. In a previous post, I mentioned that my friend Elaine had warned me that a man had been killed when monkeys threw him off the balcony of a building. She was correctly informed. That man was Delhi’s mayor! The government of India has actually hired a langur monkey (a larger, more aggressive monkey than the typical Delhi variety) that is officially on the government’s payroll and was hired to scare the smaller monkeys away from government buildings. I’m not exactly sure how a monkey receives a paycheck. I wonder if he gets a benefits package? The monkeys maintain their Delhi residency because, for Hindus, the monkey is a manifestation of the Hindu god, Hanuman, who represents strength and valor. Two days ago in Delhi, a group of Hindu priests offered prayers to Hanuman asking that he grant Obama the presidency! Isn’t it amazing that that Indian Hindu priests would be that involved with U.S. politics?!?