Every Sunday the Mysore Palace shines in all her beauty - Sunday evenings the Palace lights are turned on for an hour - people come to enjoy the glory of her magical splendor. Yesterday evening Mona and I took part in this weekly tradition. We arrived around 6:45pm to wait in a very long line of locals eager to get inside and enjoy the nights entertainment. We quickly made our way onto the Palace grounds where we waited for about fifteen minutes for the moment to arrive...One second the Palace is there, standing over you in all her powerful beauty...and the next second, she transforms into a mystical enchantress full of grace and majesty. It is breathtakingly beautiful.
I had forewarned Mona of the street peddlers selling their wares - it used to be fericous, especially at the Palace. So, I was shocked when we arrived to find they have, over the last few years, become rather mild in their attempts to sell you jewelry, postcards, flutes, and the like. I almost felt as though Mona wasn't getting the 'whole experience'.
As we headed out of the Palace I told her it would probably be rather difficult to find a Rickshaw that would use his meter or at least quote us a decent price for a ride back to Gokulam. To my complete shock and amazement, we were able to get a ride back to town for a little over what it should have cost - (I remember coming to the Palace in 2006 and getting quoted double and triple the actual cost of a ride back home.)
But that was only the beginning...our rickshaw driver was CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He appeared to be a jolly round old fellow but he ended up being a great deal more than we bargined for. When we first entered the rickshaw he was laughing and rambling in Kananada. Mona and I were in the back bemusing ourselves laughing hysterically about this and that - and everytime we laughed he laughed too - which made us laugh harder.
Mona made me laugh all the way home....As we neared Gokulam the wind had really kicked up into high gear - the night was chilly and the air was almost biting. She looked up at the Rickshaw driver and asked, "Can you roll up the windows?" I nearly wet my pants....
So the point when it started getting weird....We pull up to Mona's house and pay the driver (I planned to walk from her flat to mine) - I give him the money and he laughs and gets out of his rickshaw and tries to put his hands on my face - I pulled away but he wouldn't let me - he laughed and tried again to put each hand on my face - I said, "NO, NO, NO" and literally jumped out of his rickshaw and into the street straightaway towards Mona's gate. I ran inside her gate and up to her front door a little freaked out. Once I got to her door I looked back to see Mona at the gate trying to push the guy away. She was so nice to him - she kindly kept saying goodnight - he kept reaching out his hand for a handshake - he lifted his hands several times towards me and tried again to enter the gate - she just pushed him away again until he finally walked back towards his rickshaw. I couldn't help but laugh at the hilarity of the situtation - OMG what the ?$Y!*!(&%$>???)@(! Once he finally left Mona walked towards me and started laughing too! She looked at me and said, "I think he's gone!" "Oh no," I replied, "I'm not leaving until he is GONE!" We walked to the gate and, yep, he was still out by his rickshaw - I ran back to her front door like a little girl who'd had too much soda and was seconds from peeing herself if she didn't get inside to the bathroom. We laughed for several more minutes and then walked over to the gate to check once more if he had left. He had! She was getting ready to walk me home but I insisted she go inside and get ready for bed - it was nearing 9pm. As I walked home I thought, "hmmm, what an interesting rickshaw ride!"
