Ken had a karate seminar in Baltimore, and I tagged along. His brother Paul lived in Baltimore and we stayed with him. While Ken was attending the seminar, Paul and I decided to go see Washington D.C. D.C. is hard place to find parking, so we took a train from Baltimore.
Paul was being a gentleman and being protective of me in the busy Baltimore - D.C. subway line. Little did he know of my experiences of train travel in Bombay.
Bombay trains are horrendous. The best place to be is hanging out of the always open double doors to avoid the dense humanity within. One has to be care though, hanging outside a moving trains poses it's own hazards. In the mornings, you see the men, women and children taking a dump along the train tracks. They all face away from you - to maintain a strange sense of privacy. You can see the feces, but you can' identify who done it. Then there are the electric poles flying by you, with hanging cables and wires. The trains are electric of course, and there are people who risk climbing a top. However, they run the risk of coming in contact with metal - conducting 220 volts of electricity which drives the trains.
So, the trip to DC in a clean, not so crowded train, with clean surroundings and warning labels and insulation and padding all over, and comfort and luxury, was no big deal for me. Paul was protective needless. Then came the stop. A tall, articulate African american, in his 20s stopped me. He proceeded to tell me his tale of woe. He was out of work, and was truly in need of finances. He spoke to me for about 6 or 7 minutes. After which he asked me if I would give him any money. During all of this, Paul was standing besides me, looking very uncomfortable. Clearly he had some insight into the situation, which he wanted to share with me, and couldn't find the opportunity. I told the African American gentleman that I had no intention of giving him any money and moved on.
Paul looked relieved. He told me later that he had forgotten to warn me about some of these individuals who try to swindle money from the visitors. I looked at him, and said "In India, I have had to say no to young kids with missing arms and legs". This gentleman looked quite capable of work - so the likelihood of me handing out my hard earned cash was none. Paul was very amused by my tale of Indian misery... Growing up in a third world country changes your perspective.
