Day 22: More Running Around

The saga of the cell phone and data modem continues. We finally presented the lease but then they said they wanted copy of the whole lease, not just the section with the names and the signatures. So we now have to bug the landlord to meet with us! This was the third time I've visited that blasted mobile store for this! Today was the first day we got around town without hiring a car (and, as you know by know, a driver). We took these "tempos", which are shared vans (for those who've been to Latin America, something like a collectivo, but within the city). We also took rickshaws. The whole day cost us a total of 50 rupees (1 dollar), total, both of us. (Hiring a driver is eight times that much for just four hours). Sure, it's a hassle to have to wait for the tempo or rickshaw and it's super uncomfortable, but it was fun. Plus, the tempos and rickshaws didn't require much waiting, and with tempos you don't have to negotiate as there is a fixed price. With rickshaws we have a better idea about the price and have to bargain less now (though the rickshaw dude that got us back from from the tempo terminus grumbled about what I paid him, though he didn't harrass us afterwards). Furthermore, public transportation offers me a better perspective of what a slice of Indian society is like. The passengers are upper-middle class, at least, who have money but for whatever reason doesn't have a driver available to them at the moment. BTW: being upper-middle class doesn't mean you don't behave like a low class; I've seen people in suits and shirts and briefcases peeing into the sewers and/or onto someone's wall in public. Go figure. One of the stops we made with the tempo is buying groceries and fruits. We found this really nice place near where Jennifer used to live. There were so many different kinds of vegetables there, all in one place, as opposed to in different stands. People seemed honest with their weights and measurements, and in the end the veggies didn't cost us more than one US dollar, and that would last us for lunch and dinner for about four days. In the final tempo trip we shared it with this woman whose stop were missed by a few meters by the tempo driver. She had a bag that Jennifer wanted to help move off the tempo, but to her amazement, Jennifer said the bag must have had lead inside. It was really heavy! The point here is as gaunt and malnourished and weak these people may seem, most are strong as an ox. I am talking about the poorer people. They have to perform so much manual labor every day that their muscles are stronger than you think, stronger than the fatty ones of the wealthier, both in India and in the West. We finally got a cook who also doubles as a cleaner. Our translator/friend/relocation-manager, Amit, instead of getting his sister's cook as he had told us, went around the slum in front of us and asked around to find this cook. Her name is Shaanti (it means "peace" but this lady talks a lot) and, though from the slums, she has a cell phone! She's quite a business woman, despite her humble background, and were pretty tough in the negotiation of prices. Though we didn't care much about the prices, Amit loves to bargain and doesn't mind getting into big fights over a few dimes.

fetching water this boy is always taking care of the little girl washing dishes most of her time