Vipassana Pagoda – This is our last full twenty four hours in India. We should be on a plane out of here at 1pm tomorrow.
As part of our booking with the hotel we are staying at in Mumbai they have included a complimentary trip to the Vipassana Pagoda in one of the northern suburbs of the city. Having been relatively pleased with all the temples we’ve been to so far we thought it might be an impressive trip to end on and would keep us from just hanging around counting the hours to the plane.
I also thought it would take me a while to allow the whole journey to sink in in order to have a considered review of what I feel about India. After today’s trip however I don’t think I need that time, I think the journey has confirmed all of my thoughts and opinions. I really dislike this country, and with very few exceptions I find the people I have come into contact with to be insincere, rude, discriminatory and out for themselves at whatever cost to those around them. I cannot wait to leave India, it is frustrating, dirty and above all makes me really angry.
The Scam – We begin today with a brief introduction in reception, a car will take us to a ferry where we will transfer onto the boat and be met by a guide on the other bank who will take us round the temple. Couldn’t be simpler, I ask the question and have it confirmed that we don’t need to pay for anything all day, it’s all included. We get in the car to find leather seats, air conditioning and seat belts- excellent start.
It goes downhill from there. The driver, like all drivers in India has no clue where he is going. He has to stop five times en-route to ask directions. We finally arrive and he deposits us in front of the ferry ticket office. The ticket office is a shack at the end of a stone jetty. We can see the banks of the water a few metres away, it ebbs in the tide as the piles of plastic rubbish and scum bobs on top of it. The shack is next to the city dump, the smell is overbearing. It feels like we are standing in a sewage pipe. I feel filthy after just a couple of minutes.
The driver goes off and reappears shortly later saying we need to give 200 rupees to the police. We tell him to call the hotel, he says he does not have the number that the receptionist wrote on a piece of paper and handed to him in front of us. I give him the hotel card and he calls. I speak to the receptionist and express my disgust. The receptionist asks to be put through to the driver. I hand him the phone, he hangs up and then runs off.
We call reception using our phone and say the driver has gone. We reiterate how awful it is and say they need to find us a driver. In the meantime we will buy our own ferry ticket and visit the temple.
The Tour – The boat journey is short which is a relief as the stench from the water is repulsive. On the journey reception call back and tell us that the driver panicked and therefore ran off and that the guide will meet us at the dock. No guide is there so we make our own way up to the entrance shack to the pagoda. The guide is waiting here and comes out and introduces himself. He smiles knowingly and asks how our journey was. I raise my eyebrows and ask if he’s spoken with the hotel, he confirms he has and knows the story. He is evidently just trying to antagonise us and wind us up by being so crass and insensitive. Bad start.
We head into the temple grounds where the guide tells us that the temple has been built from money donated by the owner of the ZTV television station. It was begun in 1997. As we approach we realise we are in a building site, the place won’t be finished for a further two to three years.
We pass through three security checks, each one rudely pats us down and looks in our bag. No one says please or thank you, there are no good mornings or hellos. At the last check they ask for our passport numbers, we do not have them. They ask for a local phone number or contact, we say we are with the approved guide who is standing next to us, he is our local contact. They nearly don’t let us in, but finally decide to allow us to pass.
At this point I break, I turn to the guide and tell him what I think. That India is the most unwelcoming and rude place I have ever visited. That I can’t wait to leave and that everyone is just out for themselves. He starts to argue back, as that’s another thing in India – the foreigner can never be right – I tell him I’d rather not discuss it and can he leave us to look around by ourselves.
We arrive at the temple and go in, we are confined to a narrow glass corridor at the edge of the space. Inside is one large dome, the biggest self supported stone space in the world. It would probably be impressive if you could see it, but the reflections and poor lighting and the confines of the glass corridor make it impossible to see. Even my low expectations as a result of being in India are put to the extreme test. The guide appears, ‘let me tell you about it’ he says, I say I don’t want to listen and rage on that I can’t believe they can spend money building things like this when there is abject poverty all around. How can it be justified? We leave the guide speechless and head back to the boat and car, where the driver meets us with a face like he’s been read the riot act.
The Hotel – On the way back we speak with the hotel manager and agree to meet him in the lobby when we return. We tell him of the disaster trip, the building site, the poor driver and the scam. He responds by saying he’s been on the trip, that other guests have gone and that the driver has been there before. In short – we are, of course, wrong. We say we are appalled, we don’t care about others, we’ve had a rubbish day and we need to be compensated for the amount of international calls we’ve had to make trying to sort things out. We demand 5,000 Rupees, he seems to understand this, it seems the norm, he turns, gets an envelope and places the cash in it. Corruption is rife in India – it seems the only language anyone understands is that contained in an envelope.
Lunch – We arrange a tuc tuc to a local restaurant – he charges us by the meter, 30 rupees, a rare, rare occurrence in India. We have a fantastic lunch, a proper curry, lots of dishes and a couple of bottles of beer, made all the sweeter in the knowledge that the hotel manager has paid for it from his envelope. Relaxed and calm after the events of the morning we ask the restaurant to arrange the tuc tuc back. The driver starts off and puts on the meter. As we get out we say how much, the meter reads 15 Rupees. ‘150 Rupees’ says the driver. We’re back in it again, ripping off the foreigner world. We give him 30, say that’s how much it is and go into the hotel.
20 Hours and counting – We have twenty hours until the plane takes off. For most of those I will be asleep or at an airport. I feel bad to end on such a note but its difficult not to, I can’t wait to be on that plane. I think India could be amazing, there is a life and buzz here, even a madness that could be very enjoyable. But it’s ruined by selfish greed, it’s not a poor country, it has very good systems in place. It’s not like Cambodia that has been ravished by war for the last century, it’s a democracy with an amazing infrastructure across a vast area. The trouble is is that no one cares about anyone else, the rich have their bars, their nice houses, hotels and restaurants, the poor have their slums. The rich ignore the poor, the poor ignore the rich. Its all acceptable and we are left to pick our way through it, choosing what we acknowledge and what we ignore. And that’s what makes me angry, that this is allowed to happen in a place that could easily sort it out if someone had the will and could get the people behind them. But the longer it remains as it is the harder it will be for it to ever change. I have little optimism for India, I can’t say I will be back.
Liam – 05 November 2012 – Mumbai, India
