Sunday 5\/7\/06 New Delhi.
I have just arrived after a long, hot, uncomfortable overnight bus ride from McLeod Ganj. The monk I was sitting next to refused to open the window, so I sweated and hardly slept all night. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had it with India. It\u2019s really time to go. Getting on the bus in McLeod Ganj, I\u2019m told that my ticket is wrong, I can\u2019t have the front seat that I reserved nearly a week ago, and that I have to go sit in the back of the bus. I try to explain that I really need that front seat, that I reserved that particular seat far in advance because of my long legs and that I certainly need that seat more than anyone else on this bus. He refuses to listen to me. \u201cYour ticket is wrong, it\u2019s a different agency. Back of the bus!\u201d \u201cHow can it be wrong? It\u2019s says right hear Cityland Bus, seat 4. \u201c I try to remain calm about it, but he\u2019s not hearing me. \u201cYour ticket is wrong, you sit in back of the bus!\u201d I angrily stomp to the back of the bus. I sit in the back seat and my worst fears are realized, it\u2019s impossible to get my legs in front of me, even with the seat upright in front of me. I see nobody sitting in the front seat, my seat. People are staring at me, wondering what I\u2019m going to do. \u201cThis is not acceptable.\u201d I head towards the front again and try to talk to the ticket man again. This time, I\u2019m angry. \u201dLook, I\u2019m 6\u20196\u201d, I need that see more than anyone on this bus, I reserved it far in advance! It\u2019s not my fault that somebody screwed up and double-booked my seat!\u201d I\u2019m really pissed now, and now everyone on the bus now knows what\u2019s happening. \u201cNo, those seats are booked by another agency, my friends are sitting there. You sit in the back!\u201d His friends?! \u201cI\u2019m not sitting in the back!\u201d \u201cThen you go tomorrow!\u201d Laughter in the bus. But I\u2019m not laughing. \u201cI can\u2019t go tomorrow.\u201d He ignores me. That\u2019s enough for me. I go back to my seat in the back, grab my bag and announce so everyone can hear me, \u201cFuck this shit, I\u2019m sitting in my reserved seat in the front! If they want me to move, they can fucking try to pry me from my goddamn seat!\u201d An American guy on the bus cheers me on, \u201cNow that\u2019s the right attitude!\u201d And it was. This is the attitude one needs in India just to be treated with respect and fairness. It requires a strength of will and of stomach that I have never really needed before, just to get treated fairly. After more cajoling and my demonstration of how it is for me to sit in a normal seat, he relents. His friends sit next to me across the isle. Everything is fine, I sit next to a monk who refuses to open his window. It\u2019s the only window in the bus that isn\u2019t wide open. I don\u2019t try to argue with him, because he\u2019s a monk. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s got his reasons, I just hope it\u2019s not some kind of Buddhist self-punishment. <\/p>\n
At our first rest stop, after standing in the crowded \u201ccue\u201d to order drinks, it\u2019s my turn up, and I order a fresh lemon soda. The man comes back with a bottle of plain soda water. \u201c20 rupees.\u201d \u201cNo, I want a fresh lemon soda, and it\u2019s 10 rupees.\u201d I grab the menu and point it out. He seems confused. \u201c Ok, you wait. You want a glass, right? \u201c \u201cYes.\u201d That\u2019s what a fresh lemon soda is; It\u2019s a bottle of soda water and a glass that has some fresh lemon juice in it. It\u2019s not complicated. He takes several more orders before a glass is produced and the soda is poured into it. I\u2019m not sure what he\u2019s doing, as there is clearly no lemon in the glass. There is some discussion, and I\u2019m again starting to lose my patience with this bullshit. He\u2019s trying to give me a glass of plain soda water. There\u2019s a long cue behind us now, and I\u2019m starting to raise my voice. \u201cYou know what, forget the lemon soda, give me a Limca.\u201d Finally I\u2019m given the soft drink and have to explain that I already gave him 10 rupees, so I only owe him 5 more. At last it\u2019s all sorted out. I\u2019m now labeled the trouble-maker on the bus. Jesus, you almost have to start breaking chairs just to be treated right. I\u2019ve got to get out of India.<\/p>\n
The bus finally stops in Delhi. I don\u2019t know where we are, but lots of people are climbing out. I step out of the bus, not sure if this is the final stop or not. I\u2019m immediately surrounded by touts. \u201cYou want autorickshaw or taxi?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d \u201cAutorickshaw? Taxi?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d \u201cRickshaw?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Jesus, It\u2019s 6 am and I\u2019ve hardly slept. \u201cYou need taxi?\u201d \u201cMy friend! Taxi? \u201c It\u2019s too much. I just put my finger to my lips. A tall taxi driver with a big mustache and dressed in a white gown approaches me. \u201cWhere do you want to go?\u201d \u201cMain bazaar\u201d I tell him. \u201c Ok, I take you.\u201d \u201cWhere are we? Is the bus going further?\u201d \u201cNo. This is the last stop.\u201d Just then, I hear someone inside the bus \u201cthis isn\u2019t the last stop.\u201d I turn and look at the man. He just smiles and shrugs his shoulders. Fucking assholes.
I climb back on the bus. I\u2019ve really got to get out of India. I\u2019ve had enough.
This is just how it is in this part of the world. I don\u2019t like it, and I don\u2019t have to like it. <\/p>\n
Cairo, I\u2019m sure, isn\u2019t going to be any better.<\/p>\n