My Driver

Since I've been here I've had the same driver the entire time. Well, actually when I went to the Taj Mahal and my first shopping trip into Delhi I had different drivers, but other than those 2 occasions, Bhanti has been my personal chauffer since my first trip into Hewitt. He's the sweetest thing.

Drivers, I'm told are lower in the caste system.

At first, he wouldn't speak too much. He'd stay quiet and mind his own business and just drive. Which was ok- there was way too much around me to watch anyway. I would try to ask him questions and he would respond with uncertainty. His spoken English isn't that great and I think he was self- conscious thinking that I might not understand. Finally, mid way into the 2nd week I was here he said, "Mam, my English, not dat good." "That's Ok," I said with a shrug of the shoulders and just kept talking to him. (I swear, I could make friends with a light pole if only they would talk back to me.)

One day we were driving to work- the day I saw a family of pigs on the side of the road- I was a little shocked when I saw them. And excited to point out a whole family of pigs to him. When he looked over, he said, "Oh yes, little pigs." "Babies!" I said. "Babies." he repeated back to me, unenthused.

He told me that he's trying to learn to speak English better and he does what he can by reading the news paper. "Best way to learn. Reading." He has signed up for courses but his driving job doesn't allow him the time to take the classes. And I can see that to be true- he's on call to drive at all hours of the night, and of course his schedule is unpredictable. Over time he would start to talk to me a bit more.

Last weekend, after we dropped Emma off he started to ask me some questions. This was the most he had ever talked to me.

While Emma was in the car earlier in the day, we were talking about the different kinds of cars we'd seen; I saw my first Mercedes in India that day. As we were listing through the cars that we'd see in both US and India, Honda Accords and CRVs, Suzukis and some Fords (both with different models than we have in the US). Then we came to the Toyota Corolla.

Emma said that the Corolla is the newest form of a luxury car here. I asked her what she thought when she saw mine while she was in the US and she she said she thought I was a high roller. (Which, of course made me double over and laugh.... lol).

So, on the ride home after a day of taking Emma and me to and fro in Delhi, Bhanti was asking me if we had drivers like him in the US and I told him that it was more common for everyone to own cars and drive themselves, which really surprised him. He asked if we had cabs, and I told him in larger cities it was common to have cabs that were cars, that they were almost as available as they are here. He then asked me if I drove or took cabs and I told him I normally drive. He asked me what kind of car I had. When I told him it was a Corolla his eyes widened and he was taken by surprise. Sort of a wow-you have it made look. I told him cars were different in the US and it was an economical car, that I'm in just normal, middle class. He turned around and said "I'm poor. You know poor?" I said, "Yes, everyone feels poor a lot of the time." He said "1, 2, 3 class, I'm 1. Low."

Here is when I changed the topic and asked him about his family. He told me he's married and has 2 kids, a boy and a girl. His little boy is his oldest and he's been married for "5 anniversary." I asked him if his marriage was arranged. He said yes, and it's a love marriage now. "I'm happy life," he said with a smile. Through the course of our conversation, I'd have to have him repeat things and he would try really hard to come up with the words he wanted to use and at some points would want to give up. But I didn't let him. I kept saying, try again, and he would. He said, "My English good, mam?" I said, "We can have a conversation....." "Tank you, you don't mind I practice." I told him with practice he'd only get better.

Bhanti will get a good tip from me at the end of this week. I hear from other Americans that they have tipped their driver well at the end, also. (The concept of tipping isn't common here. You don't tip your servers, drivers, bell boys, etc...) He's always here on time and calls me with one ring and a hang up to let me know he's arrived. After work, he's always waiting for me in the same spot. The first few days he was awake and then he started to sleep in the car. (It's common for drivers to wait for you the entire day at the office if they don't have other runs to make. Or if you hire a driver to take you on an overnighte trip, it's understood that you pay for their meals, I think, but that they will sleep in their car.) After work (at 430am) I just go knock on the door and he unlocks. Every day he says, "Sorry, mam." Today I said, you always say you're sorry, how come. "Not allowed duty hours sleeping." Like I care. For heavens sake, it's the middle of the night! I tell him I don't care and we drive home in silence. He's quiet at night, and has bed head and sleepy eyes. Which sort of grosses me out, but it's ok. He's kept me safe and I've felt like I've been in good hands with him. To Bhanti....

Until Later, Namaste.