Go It Alone, and You Won't Be Alone

Pragya gave us the name and contact info of a man called H.K. Seth. He is the boss/dispatcher of a transportation company and she told us to call him whenever we needed a ride anywhere. I asked for a car for 630 ths morning to take me to the ISBT, where the BT proably stands for bus terminal. As we got very close, the drive, Mr. Pondit, got a bit confused because, as he said, he is only used to taking people to the railway station or the airport. The travel desk at the Taj Palace doesn't recommend bus travel to its guests.

He parked the car and walked in with me as i'm sure Mr. Seth told him to. For this, I was very, very thankful. This is Delhi, India at the bus terminal. We foun my bus after a couple minutes and got on together. The bus was OKand deserved no place in any story among a group of backpackers, but you could tell it had more than a few (hundred) round trips under its belt and maybe wasn't all up to date with its interior detailing. Mr. Pondit gave me a look that queried "Is this what you expected? Are you sure you want to do this?" He clearly wanted to be off this bus as quicly as possible, but I was ready for the six and a half hour ride to Haridwar. The ticket for this trip set me back 178 rupees, or about $3.60 USD.

We boarded the bus at 7:15 and it as scheduled to leave at 8. When we got on, one other man was already seated. Mr. Pondit exchanged a few words with him, asked if I was cool, and departed. He returned minutes later with Mr. Seth on the phne to further make sure everything was fine. I sat with that one guy and we chatted as the bud filled. He was Vijay Rajput, a 26 year-old working in Mumbai on his way home to see his parents. He was fresh off the 26 hour train ride from Mumbai to Delhi. "I've never sat on a plane", he replied when I asked. In the end, the bus was fine. The AC worked the whole way and we actually left a couple minutes early when every seat was full.

A few minutes into the trip, Vijay tells me it would make him very happy, and make his parents very happy, if I came and stayed at his house. I readily agreed. He promised to show me everything and Haridwar.

We talked about his job. Vijay holds his MBA and was formerly with sales and marketing for HP/Compaq. Now he does sales and marketing for a company that makes bar code printers and scanners. His shift is 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, but he usually ha to work one to three hours after 6.

We moved on to the topic of romance. I found out that Vijay was in a serious, two year long relationship with a girl name Shvarti. It ended a year ago when her parents wouldn;t give the blessing due to the lower caste VIjay's family is a part of. It sucks. He reponded by saying "That's life", and stating that the blessing of the parents, his and hers, is the most important thing. "Love is blind", he said, "but marriage is th eye opener."

I exerienced extreme sensory overload upon stepping off the bus. It was about 105 degrees with a dry dut storm blopwing into my face through the group of touts and drivers. The ambiet decibel level in this town is incredibly high. It seems like people have rigged their car horns to blow continuously anytime the engine is running. So far, India is really too much for me. India makes Cambodia look like Connecticut. Anyway, I was happy to be able to shut off my brain and just follo Vijay t his parents' home. This included a tuk tuk ride that maxed out with 8 passengers and a driver. We were full to the brim, heaping like a tablespoon, the tuk tuk would barey move, butthe driver still pulled over to drum up potential business.

I was welcomed into the Rajput home with minimal fuss, Vijay's parents silently suggesting their son had clearly made the right choice in inviting this guest home. The father' line of questioning starte and ended with "Are you married?" This man's lifelong dream has been to own his own car and on March 26 2009, he fulfilled that dream when he brought home a brand new Suzuki Alto. (His questioning continued a couple minuites later with, translated thr Vijay, "what's a good stereo for a 'four wheeler'?".

We cruised around in the new car, me, Vijay at the wheel, and Vijay's 'cousin-brother' Tanuj. As darkness fell, we visited a Hindu temple, then had a lovely dinner at Flavours Restaurant. Any restaurant on this street, by local law, has to be vegetarian. Vijay's family is all veg all the time. He's never eaten beef, chicken, pro, fish, no meat, no egg.

We have a bunch of things planned for tomorrow.

_________

I wrote the above two days ago and things have been great with someone to hang out with and show me around. To escape the hustle-bustle of India, I booked a 5 day trek in the Himalayas. I make the bus ride to begin that tomorrow. Now I' out of time and I won't even proofread.

Huge thanks to Kate Scudellari, my good friend who invitied me to Pragya's wedding. The wedding was certainly a once in a lifetime type of thing. (even though I sort of agreed to come to Vijay's)

Big Congratulations to John and Ali Archeambeault on their wedding. Knowing the crowd, I'm sure it was the funnest wedding around. I still owe you guys a nice gift.

Thanks for all the comments. It might be a week till anyone hears from me, I'll try to steer clear of the landslides. Cheers