I get sick in cities very easily, especially my home city Delhi, the capital of India. The universally accepted thing about Delhi is that here only money speaks. How people are treated in this city is directly proportional to how much money that they have (or appear to have). The population of Delhi is primarily made up of migrants from other states, and the reason why they migrate to this mad city from the serene village or small town abodes is .. you guessed it - Money.
This materialism has penetrated most aspects of life in the city and can be felt almost constantly all the time. One of the times that I feel it the most, which is also the major reason that led me to quit my job and let go of the comforts of affluence is the traffic rush hour. The jams, the honking, the frustration and the aggression. A picture completely opposite of how life should be - peaceful, calm and full of love. It's definitely bad for people who drive, it's also the same for people who are driven in cabs or public transport. Just a different kind of bad. Driving would give you high blood pressure and being driven would probably depress you.
Okay enough build up. Lets begin the story. So in a city which is obsessed with money, where people don't talk to strangers and asking for help is seen as weakness, it is possible to travel solely by hitchhiking and walking. I was determined to find out. I had to go from the North end of the city to the far east end, a journey of around 35 km. Normally I would jump on my motorcycle and cover this distance in around 30 minutes or take a city transport bus and would get there in 90 mins after changing buses once. But this time I didn't want to focus on traffic or join the self absorbed silent crowd on the bus, I wanted to look at the city from a different perspective by walking and asking people for help. And I was doing this in the mind numbing evening rush hour.
Here's a breakdown of how things went.
Leg 1 - Backseat of a mid size saloon
As I was walking out of the house my father who was car pooling with a friend of his offered to take me some distance. I jumped the back seat of the car and chatted with his friend who I saw after a long time. The conversation was mostly about one of his eyes which had been giving him trouble lately and he couldn't see very well from it. Now this man has 2 sons who as far as I know don't give much time to him. I realized how lonely he was and just needed someone to talk to. Someone who would sympathize and not judge, someone who could reassure him that everything is going to be alright, someone who could appreciate him for the good things that he has done in his life. I tried doing all of that in the short journey that we had together and when he dropped me on the main road 10 mins later, I felt that I had given some happiness to an old man. I said goodbye to him and my father and started walking.
I walked a bit and occasionally turned around to stick my thumb out and ask for a ride. People looked at me like I was an alien. Nobody does this in Delhi anymore. Half the motorists looked at me with mockery and half with surprise. I always tried to make eye contact with the person I was asking for a ride. Mostly they would look away. It was hard for them to look me in eye when they could not offer help.
Leg 2 - Electric scooter
Finally a man close to retirement age driving a battery powered scooted stopped for me. I sat behind him and we floated on his slow and silent machine. He had recently upgraded from a bicycle to this machine after one of his knees went bad. After the initial general conversation I asked him how he came to live in Delhi. He came from Bihar 40 years ago and worked as a gardener maintaining government owned parks. Surprisingly he was currently working in the park right next to my colony where I usually go for my evening run. He told me about how Delhi has changed over the years (which is something I can take up in another blog post). He spoke of his life journey in the capital city and how he sometimes missed his village but could not go back after he retired in a few years because now he had a made a life for himself in the city and couldn't relate to the village life anymore. His sons were married and still lived with him. Their wives were good and took care of him and his wife. He seemed content with the life he had built for himself and looked forward to his days after retirement. He didn't have much money but had managed to build a house in a low income colony. Not the kind of guy one would consider successful by city standards but I saw that he had a level of contentment that most of the so called successful high profile corporate guys lacked. He dropped me close to his house and invited me for a chai. I declined for this time and continued walking.
He had dropped me close to a Sikh temple next to the highway. Due to my recently acquired spiritual interest and the legacy of being half-sikh I decided to go inside the temple. It was so peaceful inside and I wondered how it was possible in spite of it being right next to the highway. I walked around a bit, re hydrated myself and re energized myself with some Karah prasad (sweet dish made from flour, ghee and lots of sugar). I guess the divine blessing worked because I got another ride as soon as I stepped out on the highway.
Leg 3 - Front seat of a lawyers car
The lawyer who offered to help me told me about his life and his struggle to survive. He belonged to a small town in Bihar and after studying to be an accountant started out as an employee of the World Bank, then quit to get a job with the Government of India, failed to clear the entrance examination 4 times (out of which he made it to the interview thrice), then got severely depressed for 5 years. He left everything and went into isolation, he refused to go on anti-depressants and fought it out. He learnt Sanskrit and started reading the Bhagavad Gita, known as the greatest spiritual book of all time and that helped him overcome his depression and gave him the strength to go back and make it in the world. After this he decided to pursue law and studied to become a lawyer. Now he is an impaneled lawyer in the Supreme court of India. He spoke of ancient Indian wisdom about money and quoted Sanskrit verses from Arthshastra, a book written in 300 BC by famous Indian scholar and politician Chanakya. By the time I got off the car I had covered almost half the total distance of my journey and was quite inspired by this guys life story and ideas. I made a mental note to read the Bhagvadgita and Arthashastra and started walking again.
Leg 4 - Radio Taxi driver
I ask him why he helped me considering that he was in the business of transportation. Why take a passenger for free? He said - "God has made me like this. If someone asks for help, I can't refuse." Then I heard another life story with it's ups and downs. He was a bus driver who lost his job after Delhi Government banned Diesel buses from plying in the city. His boss had just bought a new bus and couldn't afford to upgrade to CNG fuel so he had to shut the company. After that he found another job in a private bus company which shut down in a few years after Delhi Government decided to ban private buses of certain colors altogether. At that point he lost all faith in buses and bought a taxi instead and now he was happy being his own boss. He dropped me on the Yamuna.
I walked a bit to reach the riverfront. I decided to not worry about getting a ride for a while and enjoy the scenery of Delhi's own river, one which we have polluted intensely and immensely. But it's still beautiful. I saw herons playing around the water, green fields on both sides or the river and people residing in small settlements. I observed the life around the river and made a note of visiting these settlements at some point. I realized that we see only a very small portion of Delhi which is along the main roads and that also we usually pass with zero awareness because we always pass the same routes in the same mode of transport back and forth everyday. The mind gets used to this and stops seeing new things. I've been in Delhi all my life but suspect that I must have experienced less than 10% of the places in the city. What an interesting realization. This could be another project for later. Now I was getting tired of the walking and the traffic was at it's peak. The pollution in the air wasn't exactly helping my lungs either. I walked and walked, no one seemed to have the patience to stop for me at this mad hour. A nice middle aged man on a scooter stopped just to tell me that he can't help me as he didn't have a spare helmet for me. But after a long walk I found another lift.
Leg 5 - The rider of an Enfield Bullet motorcycle
He let me sit on the pillion seat first and then asked me "What will you do if a cop catches us because you don't have a helmet". I said I'll pray that it doesn't happen. He laughed. We got talking about motorcycles in general and Enfield Bullets in particular. I was able to guess the model of his bike correctly, a mid 2000s Electra. I told him about my motorcycle adventures and the fact that I also owned a machine of the same company but a different model. He asked me if I wanted to sell it. Now I'm not working in a job right now and have almost completely finished my money, so I had been thinking about selling one of the motorcycles that I own. This was almost god sent, I said yes I would be interested in doing so. When he dropped me, we exchanged phone numbers.
And I walked again. I had reached close. I was only 7-8 km from my destination, a distance which was walkable. But soon I found another ride.
Leg 6 - A corporate cab driver
As I sat in the front seat of his AC taxi, I could smell the corporate air. I've worked in the corporate sector for 7 years and traveled in many office cabs. Also there is a certain character of corporate cab drivers which I can catch but can't put a finger on it. Maybe it's the fact that they hang around with a much cooler English speaking gang of people or maybe it's the long duty hours, no holidays and constant lack of sleep. He spoke to me about the dark life of a corporate cab driver. His words had an air of pride and sadness combined. He carried me some more distance and after he dropped me I was only 4-5 km away from the destination.
And I walked some more.
Leg 7 - An aspiring entrepreneur and business student
Young, motivated and pleasant natured. He gave me a ride on the back seat of his motorcycle. He was running his fathers business and pursuing an MBA course simultaneously. He was a good rider, I complimented him. He asked me if I were doing it because he had helped me. We both laughed. This guy was more interested in knowing about my life than talking about his. I told him about my travels in the last year and my project for today . He was happy to listen and I was happy to talk after listening to everyone for the last few hours. He dropped me right next to my destination. Noted the address of my blog and said goodbye.
Yipee! I had made it. I traveled from one corner of the city to another without spending a single rupee and having some interesting insights on the city and it's people. Delhi is not that bad after all. Behind the madness and the materialism there are some beautiful places and people. It is a city of struggle and people have learnt to be tough on the outside but once that shell is penetrated, everyone has a story that is worth hearing.
This materialism has penetrated most aspects of life in the city and can be felt almost constantly all the time. One of the times that I feel it the most, which is also the major reason that led me to quit my job and let go of the comforts of affluence is the traffic rush hour. The jams, the honking, the frustration and the aggression. A picture completely opposite of how life should be - peaceful, calm and full of love. It's definitely bad for people who drive, it's also the same for people who are driven in cabs or public transport. Just a different kind of bad. Driving would give you high blood pressure and being driven would probably depress you.
Okay enough build up. Lets begin the story. So in a city which is obsessed with money, where people don't talk to strangers and asking for help is seen as weakness, it is possible to travel solely by hitchhiking and walking. I was determined to find out. I had to go from the North end of the city to the far east end, a journey of around 35 km. Normally I would jump on my motorcycle and cover this distance in around 30 minutes or take a city transport bus and would get there in 90 mins after changing buses once. But this time I didn't want to focus on traffic or join the self absorbed silent crowd on the bus, I wanted to look at the city from a different perspective by walking and asking people for help. And I was doing this in the mind numbing evening rush hour.
Here's a breakdown of how things went.
Leg 1 - Backseat of a mid size saloon
As I was walking out of the house my father who was car pooling with a friend of his offered to take me some distance. I jumped the back seat of the car and chatted with his friend who I saw after a long time. The conversation was mostly about one of his eyes which had been giving him trouble lately and he couldn't see very well from it. Now this man has 2 sons who as far as I know don't give much time to him. I realized how lonely he was and just needed someone to talk to. Someone who would sympathize and not judge, someone who could reassure him that everything is going to be alright, someone who could appreciate him for the good things that he has done in his life. I tried doing all of that in the short journey that we had together and when he dropped me on the main road 10 mins later, I felt that I had given some happiness to an old man. I said goodbye to him and my father and started walking.
I walked a bit and occasionally turned around to stick my thumb out and ask for a ride. People looked at me like I was an alien. Nobody does this in Delhi anymore. Half the motorists looked at me with mockery and half with surprise. I always tried to make eye contact with the person I was asking for a ride. Mostly they would look away. It was hard for them to look me in eye when they could not offer help.
Leg 2 - Electric scooter
Finally a man close to retirement age driving a battery powered scooted stopped for me. I sat behind him and we floated on his slow and silent machine. He had recently upgraded from a bicycle to this machine after one of his knees went bad. After the initial general conversation I asked him how he came to live in Delhi. He came from Bihar 40 years ago and worked as a gardener maintaining government owned parks. Surprisingly he was currently working in the park right next to my colony where I usually go for my evening run. He told me about how Delhi has changed over the years (which is something I can take up in another blog post). He spoke of his life journey in the capital city and how he sometimes missed his village but could not go back after he retired in a few years because now he had a made a life for himself in the city and couldn't relate to the village life anymore. His sons were married and still lived with him. Their wives were good and took care of him and his wife. He seemed content with the life he had built for himself and looked forward to his days after retirement. He didn't have much money but had managed to build a house in a low income colony. Not the kind of guy one would consider successful by city standards but I saw that he had a level of contentment that most of the so called successful high profile corporate guys lacked. He dropped me close to his house and invited me for a chai. I declined for this time and continued walking.
He had dropped me close to a Sikh temple next to the highway. Due to my recently acquired spiritual interest and the legacy of being half-sikh I decided to go inside the temple. It was so peaceful inside and I wondered how it was possible in spite of it being right next to the highway. I walked around a bit, re hydrated myself and re energized myself with some Karah prasad (sweet dish made from flour, ghee and lots of sugar). I guess the divine blessing worked because I got another ride as soon as I stepped out on the highway.
Leg 3 - Front seat of a lawyers car
The lawyer who offered to help me told me about his life and his struggle to survive. He belonged to a small town in Bihar and after studying to be an accountant started out as an employee of the World Bank, then quit to get a job with the Government of India, failed to clear the entrance examination 4 times (out of which he made it to the interview thrice), then got severely depressed for 5 years. He left everything and went into isolation, he refused to go on anti-depressants and fought it out. He learnt Sanskrit and started reading the Bhagavad Gita, known as the greatest spiritual book of all time and that helped him overcome his depression and gave him the strength to go back and make it in the world. After this he decided to pursue law and studied to become a lawyer. Now he is an impaneled lawyer in the Supreme court of India. He spoke of ancient Indian wisdom about money and quoted Sanskrit verses from Arthshastra, a book written in 300 BC by famous Indian scholar and politician Chanakya. By the time I got off the car I had covered almost half the total distance of my journey and was quite inspired by this guys life story and ideas. I made a mental note to read the Bhagvadgita and Arthashastra and started walking again.
Leg 4 - Radio Taxi driver
I ask him why he helped me considering that he was in the business of transportation. Why take a passenger for free? He said - "God has made me like this. If someone asks for help, I can't refuse." Then I heard another life story with it's ups and downs. He was a bus driver who lost his job after Delhi Government banned Diesel buses from plying in the city. His boss had just bought a new bus and couldn't afford to upgrade to CNG fuel so he had to shut the company. After that he found another job in a private bus company which shut down in a few years after Delhi Government decided to ban private buses of certain colors altogether. At that point he lost all faith in buses and bought a taxi instead and now he was happy being his own boss. He dropped me on the Yamuna.
I walked a bit to reach the riverfront. I decided to not worry about getting a ride for a while and enjoy the scenery of Delhi's own river, one which we have polluted intensely and immensely. But it's still beautiful. I saw herons playing around the water, green fields on both sides or the river and people residing in small settlements. I observed the life around the river and made a note of visiting these settlements at some point. I realized that we see only a very small portion of Delhi which is along the main roads and that also we usually pass with zero awareness because we always pass the same routes in the same mode of transport back and forth everyday. The mind gets used to this and stops seeing new things. I've been in Delhi all my life but suspect that I must have experienced less than 10% of the places in the city. What an interesting realization. This could be another project for later. Now I was getting tired of the walking and the traffic was at it's peak. The pollution in the air wasn't exactly helping my lungs either. I walked and walked, no one seemed to have the patience to stop for me at this mad hour. A nice middle aged man on a scooter stopped just to tell me that he can't help me as he didn't have a spare helmet for me. But after a long walk I found another lift.
Leg 5 - The rider of an Enfield Bullet motorcycle
He let me sit on the pillion seat first and then asked me "What will you do if a cop catches us because you don't have a helmet". I said I'll pray that it doesn't happen. He laughed. We got talking about motorcycles in general and Enfield Bullets in particular. I was able to guess the model of his bike correctly, a mid 2000s Electra. I told him about my motorcycle adventures and the fact that I also owned a machine of the same company but a different model. He asked me if I wanted to sell it. Now I'm not working in a job right now and have almost completely finished my money, so I had been thinking about selling one of the motorcycles that I own. This was almost god sent, I said yes I would be interested in doing so. When he dropped me, we exchanged phone numbers.
And I walked again. I had reached close. I was only 7-8 km from my destination, a distance which was walkable. But soon I found another ride.
Leg 6 - A corporate cab driver
As I sat in the front seat of his AC taxi, I could smell the corporate air. I've worked in the corporate sector for 7 years and traveled in many office cabs. Also there is a certain character of corporate cab drivers which I can catch but can't put a finger on it. Maybe it's the fact that they hang around with a much cooler English speaking gang of people or maybe it's the long duty hours, no holidays and constant lack of sleep. He spoke to me about the dark life of a corporate cab driver. His words had an air of pride and sadness combined. He carried me some more distance and after he dropped me I was only 4-5 km away from the destination.
And I walked some more.
Leg 7 - An aspiring entrepreneur and business student
Young, motivated and pleasant natured. He gave me a ride on the back seat of his motorcycle. He was running his fathers business and pursuing an MBA course simultaneously. He was a good rider, I complimented him. He asked me if I were doing it because he had helped me. We both laughed. This guy was more interested in knowing about my life than talking about his. I told him about my travels in the last year and my project for today . He was happy to listen and I was happy to talk after listening to everyone for the last few hours. He dropped me right next to my destination. Noted the address of my blog and said goodbye.
Yipee! I had made it. I traveled from one corner of the city to another without spending a single rupee and having some interesting insights on the city and it's people. Delhi is not that bad after all. Behind the madness and the materialism there are some beautiful places and people. It is a city of struggle and people have learnt to be tough on the outside but once that shell is penetrated, everyone has a story that is worth hearing.
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