We have returned to Mumbai and yesterday the gentlemen in our crew finished distributing the last few bedkits while the ladies went, you guessed it, shopping. We had a grand time wandering around some of the shops in the business district. The trick was working the taxi system
As we exited the Y where we are staying, we were approached by a wonderful taxi driver who offered us a fixed rate of 150 rupees to take us exactly where we wanted to go. We thought that was a great deal at about $4.00 Cdn. so we hopped in and made it to the shops. On the way home we realized that we didn't have the address of the Y with us but had an idea where it was. We decided to go back into the last shop and have the man there explain to a taxi driver where we needed to go. The driver said, "Oh yes!" and we got in.
This time we were running the meter and he told us to just multiply by 13 and we would have the price. As we were driving through the rush hour streets of Mumbai (not an easy feat for any driver) we were watching the meter click upwards. As we finally approached the Y, the meter was climbing close to 40 and we envisioned paying over 500 rupees. Our hearts raced a little faster and we began to feel that we had been very fortunate that morning. When we finally stopped and the driver pointed to his little fare book, instead of being 41 x 13 rupees (533 rupees) it was only 72 rupees. We were so thrilled at the rate that we gave him a hundred and left him smiling broadly at the wonderful tip we had given. The trip cost us under $2.00 with the 25% tip included.
Cathy Gregory
for the SCAW 2008 Kolkata team
Leave a comment here.
