Urvashi was out of town this weekend which meant I needed to
fend for myself in terms of transportation to and from school. Which translates into pedal rickshaws and
auto rickshaws. A pedal rickshaw is
basically a tricycle with a little seat on the back that has a hood if you want it up or it can
be down so you can look around. Some
pedal rickshaws have intricate designs painted on them and brightly colored
hoods. All are driven by a tiny man
usually with the seat ripped in his pants (probably from riding this
bike all day) that you think could not possibly lug you 4 km
up a hill. Oh but they can! They can not only lug you, but probably an
entire family of 4 as well. Now granted
a family of 4 in India
is comprised of usually very tiny people, but still! Its suffocating heat and humidity and here
this tiny man is carting people up a hill.
Its impressive to say the least.
So to get to school I have to take a pedal rickshaw to Golf
Club (Kalidas Road but no one knows names of streets just landmarks, so you say
Golf Club because that’s where the Golf Club apartments are, though I’ve yet to
see a golf course. . .). That’s about Rs
20 (50 cents); from there I take an auto rickshaw to school. (I just say Study Hall and everyone knows
where it is which helps, when I say Golf club with an American accent no one
understands me at all, it takes some creative talking to get there). The auto rickshaw is this little taxi that’s
like a motor scooter but with an enclosed shell and looks like a little green
and yellow beetle from the outside. Some
have fancy curtains on the sides, others peoples legs dangle out the sides,
because like I said it’s tiny. They are
all painted with sayings like, “Go Green!” or “Please honk!” Which I really
don’t think people in India
need to be told twice to honk, the sound of horns blaring has become the
soundtrack to Lucknow
for me J I was confused by the “Go Green!” painted on
some of the Auto Rickshaws, but I figured it out! They run on CNG, compressed natural gas,
which is a cleaning burning fuel than petrol (gasoline). The first day I squished into an auto that
had two people in front, including the driver, and 3 girls in the back. The girls apparently had never met another
woman American, and so flooded me with questions on our ride. I asked if they had met other Americans in Lucknow, and they said
yes but they were men so they did not talk to them. Running theme. . . After the girls got off
the driver took me to Study Hall for a grand total of Rs 10, so my total trip
(about 25 minutes door to door) was Rs 30, less than a dollar. Amazing.
On Saturdays school ends at 2pm so I decided to run some
errands. Vikas (technology and outreach
guy at school) told me about Fun
Republic, which is basically
a mall, but he said I could find everything I needed there. So with my new found skills at hailing an
auto rickshaw (which basically takes no skill at all, being the only white
person here I stick out like a sore thumb, the autos are lining up to pick me
up) I made my way to Fun Republic. This
is a huge mall with an arcade, McDonalds, cinema, and a plethora of shops and
ice cream vendors. People really like
their ice cream here! I’m still nervous
about dairy so I haven’t tried it yet.
Although I’ve been eating homemade yogurt and have been fine, so maybe
I’ll try it next time. I went to
Spencers, like a huge supermarket with everything, and bought the essentials
(hair products and Q-Tips). Then
wandered about the mall, got stared at—a lot, ate a spicy paneer sandwich at
McDonalds and a coke with no ice, and then haggled with some guys to get a good
deal on an auto rickshaw ride back to Golf Club. From there I decided it was still early I
would walk the 4km back to Santushti Apartments (home). I also just feel terrible every time a little
man has to lug my butt up the hill in a pedal rickshaw! It was a nice walk—a little muggy, it had
just rained, but not too bad. The road
goes past all the government housing.
There are all these tents outside the wall where armed officers walk up
and down the road, or sit in chairs lounging with their feet up. We have cops in NY, but seeing armed military
in red burres is something else, intimidating to say the least. I didn’t want to take a picture of the tents
or the military guys, I tried to sneak one, but I really don’t want to be
thrown into an Indian prison my first two weeks here. J
As I continued down the street I passed a cow, or bull,
eating some garbage on the side of the road.
This had become commonplace, cows are literally everywhere. They share the streets with the rest of the
community where they ignore the people and the people ignore them. So I walked on up the slight grade through
some mud, then as I was taking a picture of some men pedaling bags of rice that
weighed at least 200 pounds up the hill I glanced to my right and behold
lumbering down the street were 3 massive water buffalo. The men in front of me on the bicycles even
stopped to stare at these shiny black beasts.
There horns curve down the sides of their heads and tip up at the ends,
and on all fours they have to be at least 5 feet high. Yet there they were making their way against
traffic through the mess of auto rickshaws, motorbikes, pedal rickshaws, and
pedestrians. Where they were headed who
knows, but it’s safe to say I’m glad they were on the opposite side of the
street.
The small part of India I have seen really is amazing in
this way—for all the new buildings and highly innovative technologies and fancy
malls there is always at least one water buffalo to remind you of where you
are.
Ever in awe,
Kyla
