Driving Miss Helen

Before our recent visit to the US in March, we made arrangements to engage a full time car and driver. Since our arrival in Bangalore in September, we have only occasionally hired a car and driver for a special trip out of town or hired a taxi for a specific in-town event. The rest of the time we walked or bargained in the street with one of the many auto rickshaw drivers.

Walking was always a reliable mode of transportation, but offered limit exploration range. There were also the some “back of the mind” considerations when going for a brisk in-town walk. Are we on a healthy, exercised-filled sojourn or a life threatening event? Walk and get some good exercise. Walk and consume an unhealthy dose of the omnipresent air pollution spiced with a swirl of construction dust. Then again, one could easily be squashed while crossing the street by a barreling bus or careening car. Road etiquette does not extend the right-of-way to pedestrians. Yet, despite the pluses and minuses, we found walking a wonderful way to explore at ground level our new home town.

Auto rickshaw transportation opened the range of our exploring, but had its own pluses and minuses. Many consider an autorickshaw ride a low-class form of transportation. We are not transportation-class conscious and openly flagged oncoming auto rickshaws in front of friends and work associates.

Yet “grabbing a cab” whether on 3rd Avenue in New York City or on Airport Road in Bangalore is a supply / demand challenge. One morning Helen tried over 20 minutes to secure an auto rickshaw. It is not uncommon for an auto rickshaw driver, despite regulations to the contrary, to simply refuse to drive to a stated destination by nodding “no” and just driving off. We are sure there are many reasons why the refusals are offered, but this is a transportation mystery that continues to elude us.

Calling a city taxi is an iffy experience. We call a dispatcher, arrange a pick up, call again 30 minutes before the pick-up time and start again, just as though we hadn’t called several hours before. Sometimes the process works and the taxi actually shows up, but the lottery-like experience makes this transportation selection dicey.

We now have a driver named Harish. Recommended by a fellow Overseas Women’s Club expat, Jay interviewed Harish regarding the type of car and costs. All went well with those negotiations. Our contract is for service 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. The $715/month fee includes petrol and 2,000 kilometers of service. Harish speaks and understands English well, is extremely punctual, has excellent knowledge of roads, carries grocery bags up to the apartment and has a wonderful disposition.

Now, Jay gets a reliable ride between home and his new office location, a 20 minute ride away. Helen need only call Harish on his mobile to arrange for transportation to her OWC events, shopping and work. Now we can extend our circle of exploration and discover a whole new world around Bangalore….with air conditioning.