The majority of people here in Mussoorie with motorized transportation, have scooters. Several weeks ago, i bought one. I wanted to spend more time down in town, but the hike was very long and tiring, so I found myself staying at the hotel where everybody spoke English.
A friend, Andy, took me to look at some scooters here in Mussoorie, and in Dehradun, but they were either in bad condition, or didn’t have papers. With the help of a teacher, I finally found a scooter at a reasonable price. It is quite old (1980), but it runs great. It is a lot of fun zipping up and down the hills.
I am also enjoying the popularity, and contact which having the scooter brings. Often men walking on the road will signal that they would like a ride, and I always oblige. I get a chance to speak some Hindi, and the get a lift. The best moment came yesterday, when a middle-aged Indian woman flagged me down. She was from Tamil-Nadu, and spoke no English. We both used rather broken Hindi to communcate. I gave her a ride to the local bus station, and felt like a real local.
Congratulations! I last had one in 1990 as an undergrad. It was finally taken away by my parents as my grades started suffering. But, you don’t have that problem. 😉
Seems like the “phirang” scooter-wala has attracted some women fans now. I told you to learn some Tamil from me, that would helped you during the scooter ride 🙂 well…good luck driving man..be careful !!