First Mehndi. A couple of weeks ago Mehndi told me his father was “dead”
(I assumed he meant very ill) and he needed to take a week off to go to be with
him in the hospital. Work got a temporary driver for the week and we were off
and running, err driving. Shelendar was like the opposite of Mehndi. Where
Mehndi was aggressive, even wild sometimes, Shelendar was VERY cautious and
careful in traffic. Where Mehndi was talkative, Shelendar hardly said anything.
Where Mehndi knew every location in Delhi and three or four ways to get to and
from each, Shelendar barely knew his way around. Despite all of that, it was
kind of relaxing.
Well the first day, Shelendar took me to a place Mehndi had taken me
dozens of times. I should tell you one thing: when there’s a parking fee, the
driver may pay it originally, but he then is reimbursed for those fees. So, I
said to Shelendar, “What was parking?” He told me 10 rupees. I didn’t believe I had heard correctly so I
asked again and got the same answer. I was surprised because Mehndi had always said
the parking was 80 rupees there. The next day was Saturday and we had Shelendar
take us to a shopping area. So, when we were through, I asked, “What was
parking?” This time Shelendar said 20 rupees. This is compared to the 150
Mehndi would usually have said. Later that day Shelendar took us to the mall.
Here the parking was 50 rupees compared to the 350 rupees that Mehndi would
have said.
The next Monday at work, I asked, “what does parking usually cost?” I
was told that except at the mall, where it might be 50 rupees, normally it
would be 10 to 20 rupees. “Would parking ever be as much as 350?” I asked. No
that would be impossible. So, anyhoo, I explained the pattern Mehndi had been
following for the past five months. It was clear that Mehndi was overcharging
me significantly for parking at every turn. Additionally, often I would not
have the exact amount Mehndi would specify, so I would give him 100 rupees. I
rarely got the difference repaid. Also, I would periodically buy Mehndi lunch
or dinner if we were out for a long time. It became clear that Mehndi was
systematically cheating me by overcharging. This discovery led to a review of
the reports Mehndi had been turning in. It turns out he had also been padding
his hours. We decided that based on that he would have to go. Now to find a
replacement.
Shelendar was not a choice. A: see the above description about
Shelendar’s driving and demeanor; 2: Shelendar lives a long way off and the
hours he was willing to work were restricted; and III: he wanted too much
money. What to do, what to do?
We had determined we were actually going to get two drivers. One to
work Sundays and one to work the other six days. I had suggested the name of a
member of our branch who was a driver, who had told me he couldn’t work full
time but would like to work weekends if that opportunity ever occurred. So
Robinson (his name is Robinson Singh) interviewed for the part-time position
and wowed everyone. In that process, he found out we were looking for a full
time driver too. Despite the fact he had only wanted part-time, when he found
out he would be our driver he said he wanted to work full time and be our
driver. So now he is.
Now for the other situation. Through a combination of events, we came
to know that one of my directors, a manager, and our handyman were involved in
a long standing fraud involving skimming money from contract work, getting kickbacks
from vendors, and stealing and selling surplus property. Friday I let them all
go. That will put us in a bind for a while as we try to keep things operating. I
expect with them out of the way, we will find more ways they have been skimming
money from the organization.
In talking to Charu, our CEO about the situation, she had an
interesting perspective. She said, In India you always assume there will be
some amount of kickbacks, some amount of stealing, and graft. You just think of
that as part of the cost of doing business. However, when it gets to the point
this had; when the corruption was blatant, wide spread, and there wasn’t even
much attempt to cover it anymore, then you have to take action. I know I am
just a naive country boy. I know there is graft and fraud in the States as
well. But the degree to which corruption here has invaded every aspect of the
economy, and the degree of complacency that exists amazes me. It does seem, “…Everyone
is untrue, Honesty is hardly ever heard….”
Here is someone’s who integrity is above reproach. Rae, it’s all yours.
Hi all,
Our new driver has been a driver in Delhi for about 20 years, plus he
grew up here, so he really does know his way around. He also speaks English a
lot better than either of our other 2 drivers which from my stand point is a
great advantage.
If you are on Facebook with me you will have heard a bit about this
experience, and I apologize for repeating myself. On Saturday Phil and I had gathered a couple
of pair of shoes that were in need of repair in hopes that Robinson would know
of a repair shop. We asked Robinson if
he knew of a shoe repair and he told us he did.
Said there were a couple across the road in New Friends Colony. He drove down one road slowly looking for
what I assumed would be one of the little stalls that are all over. He then turned onto another road and did the
same. After a short distance he pulled
over to the side of the road and said we “are here”. All I could see were 4 or 5 men sitting on
their haunches on the sidewalk. There
was no sign, no table, and from what I could see no supplies. Robinson got out of the car with Phil and the
shoes, had a conversation and then got back in the car with no shoes. Phil’s shoes needed new heels, and I had a
pair of sandals that needed new soles. I
had taken my sandals to a repair shop in the US and was told that they weren’t
worth fixing because new soles would be around $50, more than my sandals were
worth. I loved those sandals and so didn’t
throw them away because I was going to wear them a bit longer if I could. After Phil got back in the car he told me
that the costs was 300 rupees, (less than $5) and they would be ready in about
4 hours. We drove away with me wondering
if we would ever see our shoes again and also wondering how they were going to
accomplish the task with so few tools or supplies. When we got our shoes back just over 4 hours
later, they looked great, and I was shocked and thrilled.
I tried to quickly take a couple of pictures from inside the car, so
they are not great pictures, but hopefully you will get the Idea. The picture of the back of Phil is him
talking to the shoe repair guys.
Just down the sidewalk I took a couple of other pictures. They are examples of some of the other things
or services that you can find on the sidewalks.
One picture is a board of locks.
I’m wondering if these were locksmiths along with vendors. The other picture is something I’ve noticed all
around. It is a chair facing a fence
with a mirror propped up on the fence.
Maybe you’ve guessed already, but this is where you would go for a
haircut or a shave, or even both. I’ve
also seen ironing, food vendors cooking on a hot plate, people selling tea or
tobacco, and while I haven’t seen it yet, I’ve heard you can get dental work
done, (at least a tooth pulled). I’m
going to try to pay better attention in the future, because quite honestly a
lot of these things have gone totally unnoticed by me. Maybe I’ll have others to add to the list in
the future. Hope you can interpret the
pictures and find them interesting.
There are so many fascinating things that I’m not able to capture from a
moving car.
Namaste.
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