Wednesday, January 09, 2008

The last two days I was in a city that I am getting to dislike immensely. With every visit the resentment grows. My disappointment stems from a couple of factors. (OK I AM biased and you can call me a bigot!)

Their regional pride nothwithstanding, the average man on the street is positively rude to visitors and hold the unreasonable expectation that he/she should know the local language. The autorickshaw drivers are known egotists. And this rule holds true in all Indian cities that have this species. But here, they are absolutely the best in class. First, they wouldn’t run their meters (I wonder why they even have them!) and anywhere in the city would cost in multiples of fifty, irrespective of the physical distance. 1 km = Rs.50/-. 2 kms = Rs.100/- (if he likes you!) so on and so forth. One fellow tells me that under ordinary circumstances he would charge Rs.50/; but since the route to my destination has traffic snarls, he would charge me 30% more. I asked him whether because of the traffic, the distance to the place has increased? Or, should I ask my destination to move to a less congested road? Or, should I visit my destination ONLY when the road is empty? This of course had no effect on him since he feigns to not comprehend my language. At this point, I actually stomp my feet to the amusement of the people standing at the nearby bus-stop. Finally, I get to where I had to go after a little drama and giving in to the fellows demands.

The city has no ‘josh’. Absolutely none. If one wishes to go and shake a leg or chill out, the options are limited unless you want to get stared at and share your space with locals who wear more gold on person than what my entire family owns. This is applicable to both genders. And I am not kidding. I had a co-passenger on my flight, who had all his fingers encased in gold. By gold I mean rings that are large enough to make the metal detector go crazy. Then he had a bracelet which was as thick as the steel pylon they use to hang suspension bridges. Then a necklace of equal thickness. Finally, he flashed a gold coloured Nokia! When we walked towards the terminal gate after disembarking, El Dorado walked with us shining like the second Sun. I was very tempted to ask him if I can take a picture with him but chickened out.

Last evening an old acquaintance who met after five years said “You haven’t changed!” I wanted to ask him what changes were he expecting! But thought it would rude.

12 comments:

Renovatio said...

Autos, autos, autos. Always the autos. It's amazing just how many people are talking about how brilliant the public transport system has been. They've pretty much screwed over South Delhi with a bus system that is visibly flawed from the start, which they've wasted crores of rupees on, and will be tearing down within a month of executing.

Solitaire said...

You don't like Bangalore? Definitely, NOT a first!!

RustyNeurons said...

No she is not talking about Bangalore!!!
The land of gold that she mentioned is also the land of idli sambar, thair saadam!

DreamCatcher said...

Reno: I am of the opinion that our 'neta's should use the public transport that they get us to suffer! And why does the public make room on the over congested roads for netas to pass with a siren???

Solitaire: I wasn't taking about Bangalore though the traffic here surely sucks! It is the capital city on our neighbouring state :)

DreamCatcher said...

Rusty: bingo!

Renovatio said...

Oh I never let them pass me. In fact, I've mastered the art of preventing people from overtaking me from the wrong side by nudging other cars into the lanes parallel to me. It's a skill gleaned from street racing.

Dusty Fog said...

wowie...few thoughts that cross my mind...firstly, me thinks your company should provide transport for 'official' work...solves having to stomp your feet in public..secondly i am wondering how you managed to look down that guy's throat to find that necklace...i mean....come on...you would have to swivel quite a bit...unless like some of our cricketers...it was dangling outside...and finally....don't you think you'd have a comment that your old aquaintance made, rather than the one made by the Bar tender you fantasise about, at T...?!!!

DreamCatcher said...

Dusty: here are the clarifications!
1. I did have transport but because of mixed schedules had to 'suffer' the autos.
2. I didn't have to look down his throat or whatever...the necklace was visible through the open buttons of his shirt and no our man was wearing a necklace not a chain.
3. Both the bartender and you are lucky to be still alive. grrrrrrr!

DreamCatcher said...

Reno: hats off to you :)

Nash said...

Autos : It seems reasonable that one is charged more for traffic-congested routes because of the time that the engine burns fuel for, not to mention that every minute you spend on a journey, is a minute the auto-guy could have use to ferry another passenger, possible a shorter distance and thus his net gain is increased.
It's a business eh, short trips (time-wise) are better for them then long trips in general.

El Dorado : Gold, all we need is to "Refer to History"

DreamCatcher said...

Nash: I guess you haven't been at their receiving end lately. BTW the fellows neither agree to a short trip or long. You lost me on the "Refer to History" bit...would appreciate an enlightenment.

Nash said...

No, I haven't. I lived in Mumbai and they do things by the meter there.

The lust for gold and the wars, migrations, glorious empires...history shows us why El Dorado feels the need to show off his gold. It is imprinted in our social psychology as the ultimate status symbol. I can understand where he is coming from.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Symbolism