Ragu and Suresh

Suresh has been our bus driver for two weeks. Ragu is the spotter - porter. A driver needs a spotter because you need at least two sets of eyes to drive in this country. Drivers are out for themselves. If you come to an intersection and there are four directions of traffic, all four surge into the center with the cars behind them pushing into the open spaces, all blaring their horns at once till traffic is blocked solid. Nobody will give in. I missed the best traffic jam because I was pewking. It happened at midnite while the group was on their way to Sanjiv's, our host's, for supper. They finally got back to the hotel at 3am.

Anyway, back to the boys. While travelling, they sleep on the bus.... one step up from a school bus but a long cry from an CN bus. They have no washroom facilities and I have no idea where they bathe, but they are always clean and smell fresh. They hand wash their clothes every night. I know this because when I arrive on the bus first thing in the morning, I see the clothes laid out to dry. Ragu quickly covers them with a clean towel.

Ragu washes the bus inside and out every morning even though it will be full of dust within the first 5 minutes. You could never believe the dust here. I look more like Medusa than ever with my dust caked hair.

Suresh is paid. Ragu is not. He lives off of tips from the tourists. Tips are split, 2/3 for Suresh, 1/3 for Ragu. the going rate is 100 rupees per day per passenger. That works out to $2.50 U.S per day. That works out to $35 dollars for two weeks and Ragu only gets about $12.50 of that. Two weeks pay, boys and girls. They are considered to be doing well for themselves.

These guys never seem to leave the bus. They have to stay close by because they have to watch our packs. When we stop on the highway ( I use the term 'highway' loosely) they have to go to the toilet and take their tea in the servants area. They cannot have their meals or their tea with us.

And they say their is no caste system in India. The caste system is still very alive and healthy... don't be fooled.