The Real India

We left our Palace in Nimaj and headed for Jodhpur. The drive was an easy one, little traffic and it was daylight. We had a couple of potential hotels to stay at, the first being the Balsamand Lake Palace, a Heritage property that resembled a gothic castle or the house lived in by the Adams Family. We rejected it and asked our driver to take us to a Taj Hotel Property. On the way we picked up the local representative of our tour operator.
He joined us in the van and we headed towards the Taj Hari Mahal. It was on this short journey that we met the Real India, unvarnished and in your face. If you have read the blog this far, you know that we think that India driving is unbelievable. We entered a round-about (circular intersection) and I heard a crash as our van hit a motorcycle. I looked to the left and saw a motorcycle with two riders, on the ground, one of the riders was getting up, the motorcycle was severely damaged and the driver of the motorcycle was still on the ground, but I think he was moving. This accident all happened in maybe 5 seconds.
I can not attest to the exact order of the subsequent events, but our driver started to pull over to the left to stop, we all said, we must stop, the tour guide told the driver to continue on, not to stop. When we insisted upon stopping, the tour operator said “not to worry” his man was on the way to take care of things. He got on the phone. It was inconceivable to us, we were part of a hit-and-run accident and we couldn’t get the driver to stop.
As we continued along the tour operator kept trying to re-assure us things were under control, we were flabbergasted, and perplexed as what to do. We repeatedly asked them to go back, they didn’t. This was the Real India. Many people have great issues with the filth, the cripples, the maimed, the lack of sanitization, but this was different. This was about caring for others. This was our Western Values vs. Eastern Values.
We had no idea who was at fault in the accident; we don’t understand Indian road etiquette and laws. To us it is all chaos. My instinct was the motorcycle tried to speed in-front of the van, but maybe our van driver’s eyes were diverted. Who knows?
But it wasn’t about accident fault; it was about two people lying in the middle of the road and us driving away. There were lots of other cars, so someone would stop and assist them, but why not us? Our tour operator said he called his associate to come to the aid of the downed motorcyclist, but would you believe someone who would order our driver to leave the scene?
On the other hand, maybe the tour operator was protecting us from the possible consequences of being “rich” Americans traveling in a van that hit a motorcyclist. We have read of stories of people stopping at the scene of accidents and being attached by crowds, of the police extorting money or “baksheesh” to avoid arrest. The vagaries of India are so foreign to the Western mind that we cannot begin to comprehend exactly what was going on.
We later talked about Indian sense of Karma and Western sense of Responsibility. Perhaps the driver, tour operator and two downed motorcyclist all saw it as Karma. It was written that this accident would take place.
We were Westerners seeing THE REAL INDIA, and realizing that we couldn’t understand what was happening. We knew what our Western Values were and how we would react, but we were in India and here they didn’t apply.
The gulf between what we would do and what they did is insurmountable to us. It is about Karma, the value of Life, and responsibility. We see these giant temples and other constructions in India and marvel at the artwork. We don’t think about the suffering of artisans, and slaves that created them. We see the crippled and maimed and will never know what happened to them, how did they loose a limb?
This event was real to us, and we saw how different our two cultures are. It was very unsettling.
To add to the absurdity of the day, we eventually arrived at the Taj Hari Mahal. An elegant hotel, as all Taj Hotels are. We saw the property, looked at the room and knew we wanted to stay there. We told the young turbaned man behind the counter we wanted to stay there, if we could afford it. I asked how much the rooms were. He replied “What would you be willing to pay?” How to answer? I thought of other properties we had stayed at, and not knowing what to say, said $250 night, Courtney said $225. He said ok, $225. This wasn’t a negotiation, he just accepted her price. Who ever has that experience at a luxury hotel? Of course we are kicking ourselves we didn’t say $ 150. We never will know what he would have said. Amazingly he had the authority to say yes to our offer. He didn’t have to ask anyone.
We were all still in shock about the accident, and didn’t know what to do. Courtney did notify higher ups in the Tour Agency that we thought the tour operator in the van was wrong telling our driver to go on and not stop.
We talked endlessly about it, and then went shopping (sounds callous, but at that point there was nothing more that we could do). We have developed a kinship with our driver over these last few days, and feel we need to protect him. We get the impression that he will have to pay for any damages out of his own pocket, no matter who was at fault.
Late tonight he will meet with someone who will cover the whole thing up. Bribes will be paid to the police; the injured parties will be indemnified. This is apparently the way it is done. We have told the driver that we will pay any costs that come out of his pocket, all though we really don’t know what we are signing up for.
This has been a horrible day, yet an enlightening day. I think we were witnesses to the other side of India. We are trying hard to not see it through Western Eyes, to us, it is all wrong, and shouldn’t be settled in this way. To the Indians or at least the ones we are dealing with (and who we like and respect) it appears to be the way things are done. Karma and Responsibility for Others are two polar concepts and that delineate the difference between East and West,
This is the part of India that we have a very hard time accepting.


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