Yesterday, I walked out of my gym and got ready for the usual “game” of trying not to get totally ripped off by an auto-rickshaw. I can usually get them down to about 40% of what they ask for…but I’m pretty confident that the asking price is already about 300% inflated to begin with.
Anyways, yesterday I finally hail an auto and ask him, in my broken hindi, “kithne hoga? (“How much?”). I’m taken aback when he replies “20 rupees". Twenty rupees is about right for the distance. Doesn’t this man know its raining? Doesn’t he know that 20 rupees is like pretty much nothing to me? Doesn’t he know I’ll gladly pay 8x this amount and still think nothing of it?
I get in and ponder why exactly this man is being FAIR to me?
And then..it hits me. I just left the gym – I’m sweaty, no pomade in my hair, and I haven’t shaved for 4 days. In short, I look like crap. I look like a local. I look like a POOR local.
So the trick to getting cheap transport in Hyderabad– avoid showering, shaving, and deodorant. Lesson learned.
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