Agra, Rickshaw Mecca

As if you don't know....

   India changes you sure enough, but perhaps not in the ways I had suspected. I've been touched by the ideas and clarities of Buddhism, humbled by people's generosity and kindness, awed by the monuments to civilization I have seen, taken aback by sheer scale and diversity of the nation. Yet the single most remarkable alteration is a desensitisation rather than anything more noble.
  Not just to poverty which is ever present, and frankly sometimes frightening to the point where you filter it out. But distancing of yourself extends to basic interaction with the local population. The countless times I have been asked if you want a rickshaw, where you are going, if you want to see a shop, to spare some rupees, to enter this or that restaurant, to see their friend's hotel - this has made me both consciously and unconsciously cultivate a persona. Grim faced, staring ahead, walking quickly, never making eye contact with anyone in the scant hope of being left in peace. It has got to the point where I ignore people completely when addressed, especially here in Agra - the epicentre of India's tourist industry.

The stupendously massive Agra Fort

  And what's alarming about it, probably partly a product of travelling alone, is that it this habit is getting so entrenched that it has started slipping into my normal demeanour. Today in the Taj Mahal I was stopped by a kindly lady in a sari and a Bindi dot who asked if I was depressed. We were inside the grounds, well away from the rickshaw-wallahs and chai vendors, and I realised that I had been walking round this fabulous wonder of the word with a face like thunder, locked in from running the gauntlet in town. It is ironic that while  travelling to see a country I am putting a barrier between myself and it. I don't want that. But the other side of the coin is it is a necessity if you want to do as you intend rather than be constantly waylaid and pressed to purchase things.

Me cycling Amir's rickshaw

  Anyway, I did have a bit of a conversation today with a rickshaw fella. Called Amir, he pursued me down the road for about five minutes. I explained I wanted to walk the 4km for the exercise. This alien concept took sometime to sink in, then he suggested that if that was the case maybe we could reverse roles and I could cycle him in his rickshaw. This struck me as a great idea and it was a laugh, although the rickshaw was hard to control. Eventually we ended up with an arrangement where he sat on the front and steered while I peddled. He took some photos, I got off and gave him some money, we shook hands, I thought we were done. But then he pursued me for around 45 minutes more looking to give me a lift somewhere else,. So I had no option but to ignore him eventually just to be left alone. It soured what had been a jovial and friendly experience and essentially made me feel like a very bad person. Hum.
   Ah well, enough moaning. The Taj is beautiful. Agra fort also huge and impressive. And I have lots of photos, a couple of which are here.

A traffic jam and nine people in a rickshaw. Typical India?