Before reading this I want to clarify that the vast majority of people I have encountered here in Hyderabad are very kind and friendly. But wow, if you are 6 feet tall rocking obviously American clothing you have S-U-C-K-E-R stamped all over your face.
The first scam hit me 2 days ago courtesy of an auto-rickshaw driver. I was on my own in a section of town about 10 or 12 kilometers from the apartment. By the time I was ready to come back it was about 8 o'clock. My cousin had warned me when he dropped me off that the auto drivers would try to rip me off and that the true fare from where I was back to our place should be no more than 120 Rupees. He also said to try to find an auto with a working meter. Lucky me, it was raining, I was on a highway without much to look at and only 3 autos were to be found. None had meters. Down the gauntlet I ran.
Auto Driver #1: 250 Rupees, no exceptions. You must be kidding, definitely no.
Auto Driver #2: 200 Rupees final. Still not biting.
Auto Driver #3: 300 Rupees! At this point I was ready to try my luck walking down the highway gutter rather than let these guys mop the floor with my wallet. But seeing my look of disgust this guy immediately dropped to 250. Finally someone to negotiate with! I got him down to 200 and realized that was the best I was gonna get here and now so I took it. He didn't speak English but I know it was 200 final because he showed me the number 200 on his phone with a smile and thumbs up. On went the music and away we flew.
6 Bollywood jams later we get to my stop. I pass two 100 Rupee bills to my driver but as I'm getting out of the cab he turns around and grabs my arm. He puts the money back in my hand and shows me the number 300 on his phone. Is this a joke? I already agreed to pay him pretty much double the going rate and now he's trying to extort triple from me?
Then I realize something.
I'm twice the size of this undernourished Indian cabbie and without a meter he has no evidence of giving me this 25 minute ride. I could take the money he just gave back to me and walk inside of the apartment complex where the security won't allow him to follow.
Then I realize something else.
Every U.S. dollar is worth about 38 Rupees, making this ride about $5 and change. So I believe I did the right thing when I forced my extortionist cabbie to take the 200 we had agreed on and then refrained from giving him an elbow in the sternum when he shoved that phone back into my face with the number 300 on the screen.
Scamming truly is an art here and incident #2 is my case and point. Just yesterday I took my first long walk on my own through the neighborhood. My final destination was a large cineplex and mall that is about 4 kilometers from the apartment. I was almost to the cineplex when a man on the sidewalk told me I had something in my ear. At this point I wasn't paying much attention and said thanks as I brushed off my ear. He persisted and said I missed it and he would get it for me. Being the dazed gullible foreigner I am I acquiesced. He proceeded to whip a cue tip-like stick out of a plastic bag and stick it into my ear in what I'm convinced was less than a second. Next I felt something wet and gritty in my ear and then he placed a pile of what I think was wet sand in my palm.
Somebody hold the phone. I know that didn't just come out of my ear. Noticing my skepticism the man quickly pulled out his "credentials" and handed them over. I looked down and saw a laminated blue card that had "Licensed Ear Cleaner" typed across the top. Before I could read the rest of the garbage in front of me my good samaritan ear cleaner pointed to the emboldened price of 500 Rupees per stone removed. Then he showed me the small pebble embedded in the pile of dirty sand that supposedly came out of my ear.
Don't worry, I've been asking myself how I could possibly allow things to get this far for the last 48 hours. But in my defense walking the streets of Hyderabad is no easy task. There are no sidewalks or signals, the streets are largely unnamed and every vehicle is set on running you off the road. Amidst all this I was trying to walk 4 kilometers without getting lost. Differentiating the scammers from the neighborly folks gets a lot harder with all of that on your mind. But that being said, I did finally wake up when I took a look at that ear cleaning license. At that point I was ready to throw him over the nearest overpass, but at the same time I had to hand it to him. This whole routine was so unprecedented that I had no idea what to make of it. If he hadn't shown me that ridiculous homemade license I might have actually tipped him some money and continued toward my destination in a daze. But seeing as he did show me, I put the card back into his shirt pocket and gave him the most disgusted look I could muster in hopes of drowning him in shame (unlikely) before shaking my head and walking away.
Needless to say karma owed me huge at this point and started to repay the debt with a decent, metered auto ride home where everyone got a good laugh out of my experience.
The first scam hit me 2 days ago courtesy of an auto-rickshaw driver. I was on my own in a section of town about 10 or 12 kilometers from the apartment. By the time I was ready to come back it was about 8 o'clock. My cousin had warned me when he dropped me off that the auto drivers would try to rip me off and that the true fare from where I was back to our place should be no more than 120 Rupees. He also said to try to find an auto with a working meter. Lucky me, it was raining, I was on a highway without much to look at and only 3 autos were to be found. None had meters. Down the gauntlet I ran.
Auto Driver #1: 250 Rupees, no exceptions. You must be kidding, definitely no.
Auto Driver #2: 200 Rupees final. Still not biting.
Auto Driver #3: 300 Rupees! At this point I was ready to try my luck walking down the highway gutter rather than let these guys mop the floor with my wallet. But seeing my look of disgust this guy immediately dropped to 250. Finally someone to negotiate with! I got him down to 200 and realized that was the best I was gonna get here and now so I took it. He didn't speak English but I know it was 200 final because he showed me the number 200 on his phone with a smile and thumbs up. On went the music and away we flew.
6 Bollywood jams later we get to my stop. I pass two 100 Rupee bills to my driver but as I'm getting out of the cab he turns around and grabs my arm. He puts the money back in my hand and shows me the number 300 on his phone. Is this a joke? I already agreed to pay him pretty much double the going rate and now he's trying to extort triple from me?
Then I realize something.
I'm twice the size of this undernourished Indian cabbie and without a meter he has no evidence of giving me this 25 minute ride. I could take the money he just gave back to me and walk inside of the apartment complex where the security won't allow him to follow.
Then I realize something else.
Every U.S. dollar is worth about 38 Rupees, making this ride about $5 and change. So I believe I did the right thing when I forced my extortionist cabbie to take the 200 we had agreed on and then refrained from giving him an elbow in the sternum when he shoved that phone back into my face with the number 300 on the screen.
Scamming truly is an art here and incident #2 is my case and point. Just yesterday I took my first long walk on my own through the neighborhood. My final destination was a large cineplex and mall that is about 4 kilometers from the apartment. I was almost to the cineplex when a man on the sidewalk told me I had something in my ear. At this point I wasn't paying much attention and said thanks as I brushed off my ear. He persisted and said I missed it and he would get it for me. Being the dazed gullible foreigner I am I acquiesced. He proceeded to whip a cue tip-like stick out of a plastic bag and stick it into my ear in what I'm convinced was less than a second. Next I felt something wet and gritty in my ear and then he placed a pile of what I think was wet sand in my palm.
Somebody hold the phone. I know that didn't just come out of my ear. Noticing my skepticism the man quickly pulled out his "credentials" and handed them over. I looked down and saw a laminated blue card that had "Licensed Ear Cleaner" typed across the top. Before I could read the rest of the garbage in front of me my good samaritan ear cleaner pointed to the emboldened price of 500 Rupees per stone removed. Then he showed me the small pebble embedded in the pile of dirty sand that supposedly came out of my ear.
Don't worry, I've been asking myself how I could possibly allow things to get this far for the last 48 hours. But in my defense walking the streets of Hyderabad is no easy task. There are no sidewalks or signals, the streets are largely unnamed and every vehicle is set on running you off the road. Amidst all this I was trying to walk 4 kilometers without getting lost. Differentiating the scammers from the neighborly folks gets a lot harder with all of that on your mind. But that being said, I did finally wake up when I took a look at that ear cleaning license. At that point I was ready to throw him over the nearest overpass, but at the same time I had to hand it to him. This whole routine was so unprecedented that I had no idea what to make of it. If he hadn't shown me that ridiculous homemade license I might have actually tipped him some money and continued toward my destination in a daze. But seeing as he did show me, I put the card back into his shirt pocket and gave him the most disgusted look I could muster in hopes of drowning him in shame (unlikely) before shaking my head and walking away.
Needless to say karma owed me huge at this point and started to repay the debt with a decent, metered auto ride home where everyone got a good laugh out of my experience.
at some point in the four years I have known you that look of disgust has become burned into my memory. I can see it now! Ha!
ReplyDeleteHaha I have heard tales of the ear cleaners! I wish one was stationed in Portland....wait you should just get your 'license' while you're there.
ReplyDeleteAmazing story.