The great thing about the way we can communicate now being able to share experiences easily and quickly. So over the next two and a half weeks I’m going to share as best I can my observations from my first trip to India…
An Ambassador Taxi
First impressions when you land at Delhi Airport is that it could be anywhere – one airport looks like another, with the same Duty Free shops and Costa Coffee franchises. Walk out of the airport, though, and you know you’re somewhere completely different. I left England on a very cold November day and arrived in India on a comfortably hot day. And lined up outside is a row of Ambassadors – very 70s looking taxis – with men milling around trying to help visitors find a taxi. Not a difficult task with so many of them around, you wouldn’t have thought. As the day goes on I realise that the locals are not shy in trying to get customers – they actively pursue them, they don’t wait for customers to go to them.
To say Delhi is a city of contrasts – rich and poor, old and new – would be a disservice to everyone and everything in between the two extremes. The whole spectrum of economic life is here: from beggars and people sleeping in the street all the way along the scale to those who were sharing the Sheraton Hotel with Barack Obama, who was here for talks with the Indian Prime Minister. While the desire to earn money is clearly apparent – taxi drivers, for example, are very keen to take you via shops which give them commission – I get the impression it is a very friendly and social city.
Taking a rickshaw ride
The traffic on the streets looks at first sight to be complete mayhem. There appears to be no right of way, no lane discipline and just a constant stream of angry drivers tooting their horns as they cut each other up. However, half an hour in a motorcycle-powered rickshaw and I realised there is order in the chaos: but the rules of the road are completely different to the ones I’m used to. Right of way belongs to the vehicle in front and if you want to go past someone it is polite to toot to let him know you’re there. Being in the wrong lane doesn’t seem to be an issue – they just edge their way across the lanes and a way opens up. Contrary to initial impressions, no-one is angry and somehow no-one crashes into anyone else.
Only been here a day, but I like the place.