A Rough Ride Home

It has already been painful to me that the trains stop running right around 10PM for the night and don't get started again until shortly after 6AM. I suppose when you charge Rs.5 per ride and almost no one pays that anyway you can run the trains whenever you'd like. Nonetheless, the 10PM stopping time hurts my soul a little. In my case it's a little better since going toward central chennai (the direction I need to go home) the last train comes at 10:30 PM. So I've been able to stay late at the office most days and not worry about having to take work home with me. I'm here sufficiently long enough ~14 hrs/day to chat with people back home and do all my internet time wasting and even put in a significant amount of work on my new papers.

Sunday, however, seems to be a different story. I was wasting time in the evening watching some videos on the internet (youtube is a wonderful thing) and decided I'd had enough of the office for one weekend about quarter of 10. So I left to catch the next to last train. I got to the station about five 'til and thought the train would be running a touch late so I have no rush. I waited, waited some more, waited quite a long time more, started reading a book I had with me, then checked my watch to find out I'd been waiting 45 minutes. On Sunday it seems the last train runs at 9:30 PM. Funny this should be, since there are many Christians who go to late Sunday evening church...

I had to catch a rickshaw! AH HELL! I hate those guys, they are like mosquitoes around here. Since it is late in the evening and I work in a slightly deserted part of town I had to wait another 15 minutes to catch a rickshaw. First guy turned me down because I offered him Rs. 50. The ride is only three train stations north, and should therefore only cost something like Rs. 30. At night 1.5 times that. Anycase, he said 80, I said I've only got 50 and held it up for him to see, he drove off with no further negotiations. I had to wait a few more minutes to hail another mosquito driver. I finally settled on Rs. 60 with him and off we go.

HE GOT LOST! Hopelessly and utterly lost. He doesn't speak any english, so I couldn't even direct him where to go. My Tamil directions are still weak. I can't remember straight vs right vs left. So I let him take me around for FORTY FIVE MINUTES! ARGH! He took me on some little dirt roads through slums, where I saw a couple of old dudes playing chess by a dimly lit hut. Saw all kinds of interesting things that I had no interest in seeing. I've been trying to get to my apartment for over an hour at this point. I should point out, the train ride is 6 minutes once I board. Anycase, he somehow ends up going by the Sheraton on TTK road. I knew where we were from studying maps near my apartment trying to figure out exactly where my apartment is (unmarked street apparently). He stops and asks the third or fourth security guy for directions. My asks to go to the wrong place. Even so, the security guy gave him incorrect directions and I knew it. What could I do? He finally gets to some security guy and ask for the RIGHT PLACE, but gets incorrect directions AGAIN! Then asks someone else and makes a damn U-turn in the middle of the damn street with oncoming traffic!

After a 45 minute ride he finally gets me to the train station, so I ask him to go on a little way closer to the apartment. He drops me off by Bishop Garden Road. Begrudgingly I pay him his Rs. 60 as we did agree on that price. He certainly wasn't about to offer me a discount. Mosquito!