The Rickshaw Driver

We balked at his fare and started walking instead.

“You’ll be back.”

I turned.

“What?”

“My name is Shanti. It means ‘Slow and Careful.’ As you will find out, I always take my time, and I always do it the right way.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll still be here.”

His final words sounded in my ear as we left.

Dani and I had walked these streets before dawn, when every storefront was shuttered and the roads stood empty.

Now Jaipur had awakened.

Pink arcades stretched for miles.

Shutters rattled upward.

Horns drowned out conversation.

Merchants shouted.

We made it barely a block before turning around.

Our rickshaw was still waiting.

~

As we drove, Shanti began to talk.

“Where are you from?”

Dani answered.

“America. … San Francisco.”

“Yes! I was a taxi driver in San Francisco for ten years. Now I drive a rickshaw everywhere: Jaipur, Delhi, everywhere. I know everything in these places. Tell me, what hotel are you staying?”

“I don’t remember what it’s called, but it’s a large, pink guest house on Nahargarh Road.”

“Nahargarh? The one with the elephants?”

“Yes, well, across from the building with elephants. Shanti, you impress me. You know Jaipur as well as you claim.”

He smiled.

“And where were you before Jaipur?”

“Well, we first landed in Delhi. Then Udaipur and Jaipur for a week.”

“Delhi to Udaipur to Jaipur? No. No, no. You did this in all the wrong order.”

Shanti gave me no time to think about it.

“From Delhi, you visit Jodhpur. After two days in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, then visit Udaipur. Three days. From Udaipur to Pushkar, and then to Jaipur. This path is best; I know because I drive a rickshaw in all these places.”

Dani jumped in.

“That would have been a wonderful trip.”

“Of course. Now tell me. Where will you go after Jaipur?”

“Agr—”

“Agra! What is there in Agra but the Taj Mahal? The Taj Mahal is a tomb. Why does everyone go there? I don’t understand. Agra is a bad place full of liars and cheaters. You can’t trust anyone there. I drive everywhere. I know.”

“Please.”

“DON’T GO TO AGRA!”

Then he pulled the rickshaw to the curb.