Transportation: A Review

                 Auto rickshaw

Used mostly for short distances.  Found in both the black/yellow and green/yellow variety.  Legally seats three adults.  Open air.  Fun level: 9

Bicycle rickshaw

Used only in some Indian cities.  Usually blue with grandma fabric awning.  Tight squeeze for two adults with bones.  Open air.  Seats slant forward.  Fun level: 8

                  Local Train

For travel within a city.  Cars include, but are not limited to: first class, second class, first class ladies, second class ladies, handicapped, and baggage cars.  Best time to travel: early morning or 2-3pm.  Rush hour is a beast.  “I won’t mind your armpit in my face, if you don’t mind my armpit in your face.”  Fast trains don’t travel at a higher speed, they only stop at major stations.  Slow trains stop at every station.  Fun level: 5-7, depending on crowd intensity

      Metro

Only found in one city.  Soon to come in others.  Rides above the city with beautiful view.  No food or drink allowed.  Super clean.  Super European.  Super smooth and fast.  Fun level: 8

 
            Sleeper Train

For travel between cities.  Bumpy.  Train food: average but definitely edible.  Seats turn into 2 or 3 tier bunk beds.  Deep sleep won’t be found here, but the time is still restful.  It is like being in a really long cradle with a hundred other babies being rocked back and forth. It is also a good place to meet new people.  Fun level: 7…8, if you use the Indian style toilet on the train

      Tonga

In Nepal, the equivalent of a horse drawn rickshaw.  Bumpy and prone to swerving.  Awning limits view to road if facing backward.  Seat slant.   If you fall asleep, you may fall out.   Fun Level: 5

      Bus

Both for local and long distance travel.  Varies from smooth to incredibly bouncy .  Passengers vary from humans to goats.  Air flow varies from AC to open air.  Beware dust and pollution.  Fun Level: 6

Walking

Not for the faint of heart.  Look left first before crossing.  Hand extended from hip means, “Hey, I’m walking here.”  Sometimes walking in the street is safer than walking on the sidewalk.  Open air.  Best way to meet people.  Fun Level: 8

            Elephant

Most recently discovered form of transport.  Forget the notion of comfort.  Beware branches.  Water to land vehicle.  Open air.  Best view of jungle.  Fun Level: 9

Guess Who's Going to Dinner

I want to tell you a story:

Our business associates came to visit us from another city.  They came overnight on a train and all four of them (three were children) shared a train bed.  In their compartment was a man who snored louder than any human should be able to snore.  While the children could sleep through the sound, the mother, Jill*, could literally feel his breath coming at her.  Jill recounted, “It would have been terrible except every snore was different.  Each time I wondered what sound was going to come out next.”

While this man may have been a nuisance during the sleeping hours, he was a huge blessing during the waking hours of the train ride.  He spent several hours playing Go Fish with the children and entertaining the baby. 

I hadn't met this man, but I had heard the stories and rumors of his extreme decibel range.  However, a week and a half after our friends arrived for their visit we decided to accept the invitation to have dinner at this man’s house.  After driving in circles around a certain area and asking at least a dozen times where his building was, we resigned ourselves to going by foot.  While we walked, we found someone who could lead us to the building.  He was so friendly and his family seemed genuinely excited to see us.  The first thing that hit me as I walked into their flat was the penetratingly sweet smell of incense burning to an image of a Hindu god. 

They served us a wonderful dinner composed of all of the favorite dishes that my friend and her children had told him about on the train.  We met their sweet Pakistani neighbors for a bit.  But we spent most of the time just chatting with the man and laughing at the babies.  The man, Kasan*, told us about his career as an engineer.  But his secret passion is cooking….which showed in the excellent food.  Kasan also is a passionate educator and told us several stories about his students. 

We talked about Jesus some too.  He told us that his favorite thing that Jesus said is to be like little children.  Kasan had really pondered this and seemed to understand the depth of that statement.  Before we left, we offered a prayer and song for his family.  In return he pulled out this beautiful wooden flute.  Soon we were whisked away into his enchanting melodies.  I had forgotten just how much I love live music.  We hope to have Kasan and his family over for a meal soon. 

This is just one example of the kindness of strangers in India:  Met on a train.  Invited strangers into their home.  Made wonderful food and music.  Talked about Jesus.  Left as friends.

First Things First

If I were to sit here and type out all of the “first” experiences that I have had….well, you would get bored and skim to the end where I would have some kind of conclusion and witty thought.  So to spare you the details of my first shower in India, my first Chai in India, and so forth, I will simply record some of the most notable.

My First Solo Excursion

I decided that I needed to get a card for a friend and that I needed to venture out into the neighborhood on my own.  While this may seem so adventurous, you must understand that Tammy* sat me down and drew me a detailed map to the card shop first.  With my map in my bag and something slightly less active than butterflies in my stomach, I whisked myself out the door before I could get nervous.  The card shop is literally a 5-10 minute walk from the house, but along the way I could just look around.  I had no children to hold on to or other people to talk with as I went, so I could just look.  It is amazing how much more you see just by yourself.  It was a nice little moment with just God and me.  The shop owners were so kind and even asked if Tammy sent me.  I got two cards, one for good measure.  This is a little embarrassing in retrospect: but I was so proud of myself.  Proud in the way a baby is when it first stands up...

My First Hindi Rickshaw Directions

After a wonderful corporate retreat in a suburb of our city, my business associates and I were coming back to our neighborhood in the city.  You must understand that between all of my business associates, there are eight children.  So traveling in crowded trains and rickshaws is quite the adventure.  When we arrived in our area at the train station, we still needed to take a rickshaw back to the house.  We all scurried to shove our luggage and children into two rickshaws and hopped in before they had a chance to tell us no.  As soon as we started driving, however, I looked around the rickshaw.  Then I asked my business associate who was visiting from another city,

“Do YOU know how to get to the house?”

“Well, I should…but, no.”

“Uh, ok…I’ll do my best.”

Everyone who know how to get there all ended up in the other rickshaw.  At first I didn’t know if I could do it.  But then I started to recognize landmarks.  I had seen Tammy do this a dozen times.  So I just started spouting out directions in Hindi.  Magically (actually by the Lord’s provision), we made it straight home with no problems.  Nothing like necessity to figure out how to do something.

First Ganesh Festival

So I’m not a pro at explaining this, but I arrived in India on the first day of the Ganesh festival.  I think it spans the course of 11 days.  Every night there would be dancing and firecrackers in the streets around a large Ganesh statue.  It is a time of extreme idolatry.  On the 9^th and 11^th days everyone takes their Ganesh to a body of water to immerse it.  These are called immersion days and the traffic from them is terrible.  Just imagine maybe 8-10 million people all flocking to the water at one time.  So strange.  So sad.  To echo the words of a very wise 4-year-old , “I will never ever bow down to those statues.  Only bow to God!”

 

*The names of people referenced in this blog have been changed to protect the brothers and sisters in India.