Meet Hamesh, a rickshaw driver for 20 years, but also a storyteller, salesman/hustler, daredevil, Bengaluru tour guide and father. I had been told that taking a walk is India would not be easy, and so venturing out after breakfast, I was only looking to walk around the block. And that turned out to be shorter than I wanted as I weighed the difference between being cautious and carefree/ safe and lost. As I had left the hotel a rickshaw driver, Hamesh had asked if I wanted a ride and when I returned so quickly he repeated his offer, 50 rupees or about .77 cents to go to Lake Ulsoor and the commercial district. I said maybe later after I met with my cohort. Sure enough he was still there when we went later and he rounded up two other Drivers for the six of us. In short order we were on are way in the midst of motorcycles, buses, cars, patrol fumes, and horns beeping. The rules of the road seemed to be casually acknowledged, as we traveled on both the right and left
Transportation in India was a harrowing experience. A two lane road becomes a 4 lane road with motorbikes on either side. It wasn't unusual to look up and see a truck bearing straight for us. At the last minute my driver or the truck would pull over and each would continue on their way. We would travel an hour each day to our host school and wind up, around and down two mountains. The views were spectacular, except for that one broken space where you could imagine a car going through...Actually we didn't see a lot of accidents. I think because the overall ability to speed was limited.
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