Indian tourism could not succeed without the Indian driver. We would not have gotten beyond the Arrivals Hall of Indira Gandhi International Airport without the Indian driver and we would never have seen all the wonders that we did see without the Indian driver. This essay is a testimonial to drivers Prem, Yogi, Thapa, Shiva, and Kumar (or, to be precise, we think Kumar is his name: all we really know is that he said he is the father of Naresh, who was supposed to be our driver but came down with a fever the night before we were to leave for Agra).
We first met Prem in the Arrivals Hall of Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday, November 10. Our flight was scheduled to arrive at 2:40 am, but actually arrived at about 3:30 am. After a horrendously drawn out process of passport control and waiting at baggage claim until almost the last piece of luggage came off the plane, we trudged out into a small crowd waiting patiently behind a metal barrier. The time then was about 5 am. Prem was at the very end of the line of waiters, waving a sign with our name on it. No doubt he had been waiting there since well before 2:40 am. We were so pleased to see his welcoming smile and knew that everything would be all right. He took control of our luggage cart and got it onto an elevator to the car park. Leaving it with us only until he could retrieve his car, he then loaded it into the back of the car and proceeded to drive us to our Guest House through the unexpectedly heavy fog and traffic of the Delhi morning. Arriving there at about 6 am, he and another Guest House driver carried everything to our room, and then left us to try to salvage something of the night.
We first met Kumar (the father of Naresh) on the morning of Thursday, November 11. He was our driver for the Golden Triangle Tour and drove hundreds of long highway miles as well as many bumper-to-bumper fender-to-fender (any-car-body-part to any-other-car-body-part) miles inside cities and small towns over four days on the Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Delhi loop. Riding with Kumar gave us a real appreciation of the skills of the typical Indian trying to get safely from one place to another when the roads are woefully inadequate for all the demands placed on them. As we learned on our last day with him, Kumar "owns" (that is, the bank owns) three cars that he uses in his driving business with his son. This business supports him, his wife, his parents, his son, his son's wife, and his son's children, all of whom live together, as a typical Indian extended family. When we arrived safely back at the Guest House, we each ( Pati and Beebee) had our picture taken with Kumar. Kumar said it was an experience he would always remember, and I know that we will, too.
Thapa is another driver associated with the Guest House. Thapa has taken us on trips around the city for sightseeing and shopping, to the ATM machine, etc.. Earlier in our stay, Thapa was assigned to us more, but Yogi seems to have become "our" driver now.
There are more Guest House drivers (perhaps four in all), but we haven't met them yet. Update: Shiva drove for us on Monday (November 22) since it was Yogi's day off.
Because of the distance involved whenever we leave the Guest House (really, it is distance measured in the time you are stuck in traffic jams and the gasoline expended trying to get anywhere), the driver makes only one trip out and back: he does not drive you somewhere, leave you there while he returns home, and then drive back to get you to take you back home. No, he drives you somewhere, parks near where you will be, waits patiently until you are ready to leave, and miraculously appears the second you appear to want him. And is cheerful about it. Yogi spent 7 hours with us on Friday while we visited a temple, ate lunch at a restaurant, and shopped in a small square. We don't know when or how (or whether!) he eats and drinks, but we hope he does. For this service, we pay the Guest House a reasonable half-day or full-day fee and give the driver a small tip, say 200 rupees (around $5 US) for a full day.
And yes, Yogi is "smarter than the average bear."
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