The day starts very badly. Our train to Agra leaves New Delhi main station at 6:00am and the journey from the house to the station takes 30 minutes. The alarm is set to go off at 4:00am to give us a comfortable margin of error. So imagine the horror and panic that sets in when my sister's friend Valerie, who is to accompany us today, knocks on our bedroom door and says "It's 5:20, I think we should be leaving". We only have 40 minutes to get there and we're not even dressed yet.
The boys did a marvelous job. They work well under pressure. The mosquito nets and sheets were ripped off in one go. They were up, dressed and standing by the front door in about 90 seconds. None of us could wash or shower any way as the water has been off for 3 days now. Julie, still the most sensible and organised of us all, had packed all our bags, including food, the night before. I rang the local taxi man and put the camera and some other bits in my bag. I really think we all did it in about 6 minutes.
By then the taxi driver had arrived and was waiting for us outside. Our guard, who would usually be slumbering in his sentry hut at the end of the drive was suddenly rudely woken by 5 people running down the drive in a panic. I'm sure he thought the house was on fire or that we had heard that there was going to be an earthquake. Not speaking much english, it was impossible to explain to him what was happening. We piled into the taxi and left.
We explained to the driver that we needed to catch a train at 6:00am. He drove off at a very sedate pace perhaps because he had only just been woken up himself or because he had not grasped the urgency. We repeated to him "Train 6 o'clock, train 6 o'clock. TODAY". I took out 300 rupees (£4) and flashed it around. This would be about double what he could usually expect for this journey. He looked at his watch and then suddenly realised what was needed. He changed down 2 gears and stomped on the gas. We were off.
The ride was as memorable as our RV journey to the airport in Las Vegas (see previous post Day 176). We were never sure we were going to make it. At one point going round a round about at about 50 mph, I really thought our little Honda Chappy taxi van was going to topple. I instinctively leaned in the other direction. Getting closer to the station, the traffic increased exponentially until we were about 500 yards away when it stopped completely. The driver suggested we complete the journey on foot.
We piled out. We had already agreed a strategy and we put this into action. I was to run off with Julian, find the train and then stop it. Julie, Valerie and Sammy were to pay the driver and follow up behind.
You've seen it in the movies where the guy just runs into the street (it's usually in the US when there is a chase scene) puts his hand up and all the traffic screeched to a stop. It really works and is quite an acceptable means of crossing the road in Delhi. You must however, never flinch. The slightest hesitation spells disaster and they have won. Simply step into the traffic and it will stop. Most of the traffic consisted of auto-rickshaws which are highly maneuverable and easy to stop. I would not have tried the same thing with buses.
...... to be continued (subject to "Delhi Belli" getting better) .......
No comments:
Post a Comment