Scam Artists
December 10, 2006
Well, not these specific guys. They are drivers of an auto taxi, a 3 wheeled motorcycle that seats two in back..although I’ve seen as many as 5 or 6 crammed in. I’d walk out of the hotel, flag one down and then show him the address of the yagya house written in Tamli and off we’d go.
On Vijaya Dashami in the evening, there was a 3 block detour because the police had closed a street near a temple for the festivities. When I got to the hotel, instead of the usual 50 rupees (about $1) he wanted an extra 10 rupees. The conversation went something like this:
Driver - “Ten rupees more.”
Me - “No. It is always 50 rupees.”
Driver = “Not today. There is a security fee.”
Me - “Security fee??!! What on earth for? What security?”
Driver = “There was a police detour. That is 10 rupees.”
Me - “You want 10 rupees to go 3 blocks?!! You are a crook!”
Driver - “No Sir, not a crook. I am a businessman.”
Must be a subtle difference.
Actually I enjoyed interacting with the different drivers. They were always in good humor and had a million different scams, always executed with a smile, just to get a little more money from you. It could be anoying, but I decided I might as well laugh and see how much of a hard time I could give them before they gave up. Playing the dumb tourist was a pretty good defense. And besides all they wanted was 10 rupees and that’s only 25 cents, so what the heck. A small price to pay for the entertainment.