Picto Diary - 18 January 2016 - Raja

Transit day. We are to fly (but don't) from Jaipur to New Delhi. This evening the ex Citibanker's of the group break off to join for a Citibank India reunion dinner at the New Delhi home of Rana Talwar.

Above: IV Singh, Rathore, Priyanka, Prakeet, and TIMDT. Raj Mahal Palace Hotel. Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. 18 January 2016.

IV is three time escort of Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe in India. He stopped by the hotel to see TIMDT and Click (formerly Heat).

Priyanka and Prakeet are wife and husband team managers for Sujan Group Raj Mahal Palace Hotel.

I love Prakeet's Rajput 'stache. He told me it had taken him about a year to get it in its current excellent shape. I wonder how a Rajput 'stache would look on Mwah (sic).

Above: TIMDT, IV, and Click. Raj Mahal Palace Hotel. Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. 18 January 2016.

Above: Raja and Balwant. Bus Driver and his assistant for members of The Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe during their 2016 tour of India.

Raja has been driving tourist busses for 17 years. Before that he was a truck driver, and before that an apprentice driver, as is Balwant currently.

I posted an image of our full sized Volvo luxury tourist bus in a previous diary entry.

Indian roads appear (are?) chaotic.

There is slow traffic... perhaps a farm tractor pulling a trailer load of cement in sacks... a tuk tuk moving at 40 kmph... a myriad of slow, low powered, motorbikes weaving in and out...or even a bullock cart.

What would be a serious traffic violation in a "developed" country, seems de rigueur in India. Whaaaa???? Why's that truck coming towards us in the wrong direction on a divided four lane road.

The unexpected hazard. A cow crossing the road. A pothole. An poorly signed construction area with un-announced lane changes.

Seeming unorganized intersections in smaller towns. No traffic light. Just inch forward and take your move when its propitious.

Yet... there is a method to the madness for driving in India.

The list of countries where I've either driven or ridden motorcycles is too long to cite here. But I have learned that ascertaining the driving "method" is key wherever you drive.

Each country is different. Who knew, for example, that in South Africa, activation of the hazard lights after overtaking a vehicle that had moved over to allow you to get by, was customary. Who knew, that an aggressive "go for the open" space without looking at (but seeing) any other driver was a life preservation requirement in Palermo, Sicily during rush hour? Who knew that motorcycles aggregated like a school of fish before entering an intersection in Hanoi?

I remember concluding after driving regularly in India over forty years ago, that size matters. A big Tata truck coming at you from the opposite direction would not necessarily stay in its lane. Rather it would hog the middle of the road and you would be forced to get over the side. It didn't seem right... but, that's just the way it was. Raja proved, with his big, fast bus, that the "size matters rule" was still operative in India.

Drivers in India are far more aware of their 360 degree position than drivers in, say, the US, where many drivers hardly check their rear view mirrors, so orderly is the driving pattern.

Where horn use is discouraged in most parts of the developed world, use of the horn is essential in India. Commercial trucks in India are signed with large "Horn Please" on their rear. If you are overtaking... on the left or the right... toot your horn. The driver you are overtaking rarely will attempt a lane change in your path as convention - and self preservation - mandate his acknowledgment than someone is overtaking.

Indians smile when they tell you that there are three essential requirements to driving in India.

1. Good horn
2. Good brakes
3. Good luck

In this "chaos," driver assertiveness is mandatory. Passiveness or defensiveness (how we are taught to drive in the US) increases the risk of accident.

Raja, was by far, the most effective bus driver I have ever seen. He negotiated several hundred kilometers throughout Rajasthan with aplomb, assertiveness, and skill. His seventeen years of experience driving tourist busses in India was very evident in his driving. While, he drove quickly, he also drove adeptly and safely.

Balwant's role was fascinating. He served as the equivalent of a "flight attendent" while on the bus. He distributed water and soft drinks. He was at the door to help passengers descend from and get on the bus. He loaded the bags in the bay underneath the bus.

Occasionally, the bus would have to stop at a state line to by a required border crossing tax at a state line. Balwant would be the one who would take the busses' papers to the office, pay the tax, and get the proper stamp.

On arrival at Kumbalgarh, Raja found that he could not get the bus through an archway on the way to the fort. We were on a narrow road and the turn-around of the bus looked a bit precarious... particularly given a several hundred foot drop off to the busses' right. There was, notwithstanding, a narrow back-up turn around area that looked like it had been set up for just this problem. A wrong turn would have meant a bus tumbling down the mountain side. Balwant got out of the bus, went to the rear, and guided Raja back with hand slap signals on the back of the bus.

Raja and Balwant were great. Lay a big tip on these guys!

Note: I'm writing this piece several days later. One of our car drivers in northern West Bengal was so cautious that he scared the heck out of me. India. Where driving cautiously and driving safely don't always correlate.

Above: Part of sign showing forbidden items to bring on aircraft. Jaipur airport. Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. 18 January 2016.

Fog/smog is a big problem in Delhi at this time of year. Regularly flights are delayed or canceled because of it. Last year in Calcutta, our flight to Bangalore was delayed by five or six hours because of fog caused traffic back-ups in New Delhi.

Members of the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe, Maharaja (formerly 1%) and Comic Mom, missed their connection from Delhi to Udaipur a couple of weeks ago because of fog. They were forced to ride overland to meet the troupe in Udaipur the next day.

Knowing of the risk of a canceled flight from Jaipur to Delhi, Ajay, held on to our bus as a back up. Sure enough, we found that our flight to Delhi had been delayed by an hour and a half. The plane we were to use had not been allowed to leave Delhi. Ajay took a calculated risk and shifted the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe back to Raja and the bus for a five hour ride back to Delhi. It was 3:00 PM. I was worried that we would not be able to make our dinner appointment at Rana's place.

Note: We found that our plane did in fact take off, a couple of hours late, from Jaipur. Had we stayed to take the flight, we would have advanced our arrival at our Delhi hotel by about an hour. Still, I heard no member of our group question Ajay's decision to take the bus back-up option.

Above: National Highway 8, entering New Delhi metro area. Haryana, India. 18 January 2016.

This image does a poor job of capturing the highly complex driving conditions of driving at night on a busy national road.

In India, There is no sense of a practice where slow traffic keeps left and faster traffic keeps right (we're driving on the left hand side of the road in India, remember). Consequently, slower goods laden trucks often stay in the right hand (fast) lane. This forces vehicles who want to overtake to do so on the left, moving closer to the outside lane of the road where there are a whole series of hazards... including pedestrians standing, seemingly unaware of the risk to them, standing by the side of the road.

Raja managed these difficult night driving conditions with aplomb. He saved the day again with his driving legerdemain... getting us to the Gurgaon Oberoi hotel about 8:00 PM. TIMDT and Mwah (sic) took a half hour to freshen up and joined Maharaja and Comic Mom in the lobby after which we traveled by private car to Ranas to arrive at dinner by the fashionably late our of 9:30 PM. We left the very enjoyable dinner party by 1:30 AM on the 19th, making it back to Gurgaon just after 2:00 AM.

The dinner at Rana's is chronicled in a separate picto diary send.

Needless to say, I laid an incremental tip on Raja and Balwant for their excellent work in taking us on this unanticipated bus ride.

Addendum:


It is nothing more than inspirational. You set a bar that all should aspire to. Culture, Experience. Travel. Food. Friends. Staggering.

I am a study in jealousy.

You two are my heroes.

The Inventor,
Park City, UT

And you one of mine.


wonderful to me i see some of the details in newer religions. thanks Steve.

Brand,
Venice, CA

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: 1/22/2016 3:07:59 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: Royal palace named world's best hotel

Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India, named world's best hotel by TripAdvisor.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/travel/tripadvisor-best-hotels-world-feat/

Many thanks to all who guided us to stay in this now even more prestigious property.=

Shock,
Redding, PA

Umaid Bhawan Palace was indeed spectacular. Thanks for the update. Fun traveling with the two of you.


Great pictures, thanks [birds]

La Doc and La Psy,
Los Angeles, CA