White man's wallet

Photo courtesy of World of Stock

Last night the taxi driver tried to scam us. We hired a taxi from Dial-a-Cab, a radio taxi service that seems to work fairly well (they show up almost on time, they almost know the city, they almost speak English). The guy in question was funny and talkative. On the way back, he started chatting in Italian, telling me how he'd worked for Italian tourists for many years. He cracked some jokes and told us about his family. We were having a really pleasant trip home. Then, when we arrived and asked for the price, he looked at intentively into a corner of the car ( where a non-existent meter was supposed to be) and after too many seconds he gave us a ridiculously high price. Fucking ridiculous.

The husband got so angry he shouted for five minutes, we paid what we thought was correct and got out of the car. This incident spoilt an otherwise pleasant evening.

There we were, again, angry and frustrated.

Now. We must look at the bigger picture. Some will say that generalising is wrong, sure: but how am I supposed to meet all Delhiites before I can say something about them?

So, I submit that most people in Delhi are shameless crooks. There I said it. In almost two months we have been cheated, scammed and screwed on a daily basis; we have to be constantly on the look-out for potential scams. We are ALWAYS given inflated prices unless it's bloody printed on the thig we want to buy.

I am doing my best to live among people. As I said before, we did not want to live like expats. Now I am beginning to see the expats' choice as a necessary one. One must live separated from the shameless populace. One cannot afford to be democratic, open, or nice towards people.

The ugly truth is that a large part of Indians are only in it for the money. Fast cash earned by doing as little as possible, as badly as possible. The entire system is based on a continuum of cheating; short-sighted cheating, to be precise, for they cannot see the monetary advantage of doing something properly.
I'll explain: if you as a miserable, despicable taxi driver give me a good service for a fair price, I am likely to call you again = you will earn more money. I might even give you good tips = you will earn even more money. This is something even a two-months old child can understand, right?

No.

In the mind of the Despicable Indian*, there lies a problem in the idea of 'will earn'. Why should he want to earn 80 rupees today and 10000 rupees tomorrow, if he can make 100 today?

I do know better. Things like this have deep structural causes that sociologists all over the globe are trying to uncover.

Still, think of a country where almost a billion people behave like the Despicable Indian, and tell me, show me SCIENTIFICALLY how that country is set to be a 'global superpower'.

C'mon, tell me.

*The Despicable Indian is an analytical category, not a term of substance.