5 Lakhs for a Life

Tejas and I reached Dehli late, and since we had a few hours to wait until Vik's flight landed, decided to have a chai and paratha at a restaurant close-by. We met our driver (his name is PC) and killed time by discussing our agenda for the day: make the 4-5 hour drive north from Dehli to Rishikesh for a carthartic 'soul cleansing' dip in the Ganga and then head over to Haridhwar to watch a colorful and popular 'aarti' at around 6:30PM and crash for the night.

Vik shows up! Smiles show that this is obviously before our 10+ hour trek...

It's almost 5PM right now and we are still 170km away from Rishikesh! This road trip has been a disaster from the start, first by late flights, second by disgusting traffic in the concrete and vehicular jungle which is Delhi, and third by probably one of the worst events I have ever witnessed.

As soon as we got out of Delhi traffic we were stopped in dead, bumper to bumper traffic. Goods carriers, cars, motorcycles, and all other objects with axles and wheels were turned off. We were a little peeved and hungry, so decided to post up in the car while our driver went to go check out the snafu.

He came back about 15 minutes later to tell us that a little boy from the nearby village had been hit by a car on the highway and had been killed. We were taken aback for a few moments but began asking some questions about what what had happened and what was happening. Apparently the villagers were sitting on the highway demanding restitution for what had just happened - 5 lakhs (500,000 rupees, or around $10,000) to serve justice. The driver had been taken into custody by the police but this was not the end.

The driver said that the body had been taken to the hospital. Me being the softy, decided that if there was nothing graphic to see than we might as well go check out the fracas. It was quite a scene on so many different levels. Firstly, the driver was wrong. There was a very large group of villagers and bystanders on the highway surrounding the boy who was covered with a sari - mourning, crying, and frenetic. There were probably 5 police officers doing absolutely nothing. On the other side of the highway (the side we were stuck on) there were villagers with sticks blocking the road and threatening to beat any car or motorcycle that tried to get by until justice was served.

It was a very sad, almost nauseating, site to see. Watching the family was one of the worst experiences I have ever felt. I could not watch anymore, and came back to our side of the highway where I could not deal with the policemen doing nothing, villagers stopping traffic, etc. TII - This Is India.

We came back to the car, waited for an hour, and traffic started moving. Evidently the government paid the family 5 lakhs to clear up the "situation".

Update: It's 9:30PM and we've finally arrived in Haridhwar - about 6.5 hours later than planned. At least they have Wi-Fi! The road up here was long and packed. This month is a special pilgrimage time - people walk all the way from Dehli to Haridhwar/Rishikesh to bathe in the Ganges and take water back to their villages to use in pooja's during Shivratri. Incredible, as you drive up here you see throngs of adults and kids alike walking on the highway and roads.

We missed the famous evening aarti but planning on waking early to make the 5:45AM aarti tomorrow. That being said, I'm signing off.

R