grusl

"William Black" <william.black@.uk> wrote in message
news:g2968r$c6f$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>
> "Markku Grönroos" <kurkku@hassuserveri.fi> wrote in message
> news:t7U1k.12878$_03.4896@reader1.news.saunalahti. fi...
>>
>> "William Black" <william.black@.uk> kirjoitti
>
>>> As a general rule Indian Bombay drivers can't even read the street
>>> signs, never mind know the way to anywhere off the beaten track and tend
>>> to use the old British names for streets...
>>>
>> And you are supposed to tell them the way to the destination?
>
> Quite often, yes...
>
> Get a cab to Andeheri Village (which is actually deep inside the city
> suburbs) and you'll end up telling the cab driver exactly how to get
> there.
>
> That's assuming the vwehicle you're in is allowed to go where you want to
> be...
>
> Autorickshaws are not allowed over the causeways onto the island. But
> there are places where the only passing public transport is the
> autorickshaws...
>
> Getting an autorickshaw to Colaba is impossible, but they won't tell you
> that. They'll drop you off at one of the causeways, where some the taxis
> are driven by criminals who take anyone who looks prosperous down a nice
> dark alley and rob them...
>
> What clever people do is stop well short of the causeway and flag down a
> passing cab.
>
>> Hmh! Navigation in Mumbai is like in any other town in the world. We are
>> not talking about traffic.
>
> In Bombay everyone talks about the traffic...
>
> And it is unlike any other town in the world...
>

I think the regular cabs in Bombay are pretty good. Getting the
pronunciation right is the problem, especially with British names. If I say
Ballard Estate I get a blank look. Once I learned to say "Bala Desstay" I
was fine. Although with the Padminis, I'm only 167cm and still bang my head
on the window frames.

Cheers,
George W Russell
Bangalore