We started the vacation in Delhi where we spent two days. On the first day in Delhi, with the worst case of jet lag I have ever experienced, I allowed myself to be trapped by a Kashmiri rug salesman, who plied me with tea. A master of haggling—a mixture of combat, blood sport and histrionic acting—he convinced me to buy a small rug. It was made of a special type of lustrous silk tied with thousands of knots that depict a profusion of flowers with rich colors of gem stones. It is beautiful. I know I was being swindled but the salesman said the rug would give my house a soul, and I fell for it.
My wife was furious at my weakness.
After trying to acclimate to the time zone, we then flew to Jodhpur to meet Amir who took us to see the palaces, forts and shrines on the way back to Delhi to complete the Golden Triangle. We drove up to five hours a day, carefully avoiding, at my wife’s insistence, any more rug dealers. Jewelry shops were allowed, however, because my wife believes that bracelets of garnets and rubies can also give a house a soul.
As I can confirm from the vantage point of the backseat of an air conditioned white Toyoto Land Cruiser, the variety of road travelers in India is staggering. At minimum, it includes people walking, as well as people on the following species or motorized vehicles: camels, donkeys, oxen, elephants, carts, bicycles, motor bikes, cars, rickshaws, buses, taxis, trucks and tuc tucs. Tuc tucs are a kind of scooter with a small enclosed passenger compartment; most are painted green and yellow. A tuc tuc is a cross between a taxi and a rickshaw.
The only things I did not see on the road were people on skateboards or roller blades.
The situation is more complicated, however. Because vehicles are in short supply and gas is expensive, people must travel cheaply. As a result, a family of four may ride together on the same motor bike. In a poor area, the cost of a helmet for everyone would be way beyond a family’s means. Only Dad, the driver, may be properly equipped. One child may sit on his lap to enjoy the rushing air while Mom, in back, sits sidesaddle, a cerise sari flowing in the wind, another child on her lap. In America, such a family would be encased in the protective steel cage of a BMW X5, a CUV (crossover utility vehicle), which weighs more than 3 tons and gets less than 20 miles per gallon.
