Thursday, October 19 Dengue Fever, Worst Train Ride

It rained last night. I don’t know what’s better for Delhi; cleaning out the pollution or having more stagnant puddles of water. I have gotten a couple of mosquito bites since returning to Delhi. This scares me for a number of reasons, including malaria and more importantly, Dengue Fever. There is an epidemic currently going on in the city. Apparently AIIMS (All-India Medical Center) is the main hospital for treatment. But it’s also the epicenter because it’s located on a college campus, surrounded with an abundance of stagnant water. The college campus that I am referring to is Delhi University, which I attend (well, only one day a week). Moreover, AIIMS hospital is three blocks away from my house, right in Civil Lines. And Rahul Jain got Dengue Fever last year. There are 88 new cases in Delhi reported every day. So for all those in the US complaining about West Nile….shutup. Dengue is no joking matter though, since there’s no prevention or cure. To make it worse, the municipal authorities had known about it, and done nothing about it until it erupted into an epidemic. I guess Mom and Dad have the right idea dressing like beekeepers and bringing liters of mosquito repellent. And speaking of Dengue Fever, I think I got it. Which made the following actions really unenjoyable. I had to go to the station to catch a train from New Delhi Station to Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, to meet up with Mom and Dad at Ranthambore Tiger Park. On the platform, dozens of huge dirty brown rats scurried to and fro, which was disgusting. I dropped my malaria pill on the dirty ground. The ride was even worse. Not only did I not have a chance to eat today, I was developing a really high fever and had extreme chills. It was freezing on the train at night. And of course, the train was delayed and took an hour and a half longer than expected. Since Sawai Madhopur is not a huge station I had to stay awake late to make sure I didn’t miss the stop. But the worst part was that I had a waitlisted ticket (of course they don’t tell you that when you’re ordering it online), so my sick self had to sit on the floor of the walkway to the bathroom, which was disgusting and wet, with crickets and ten other people sharing the tiny space. Then the ticket-taker asked for my ticket, and I thought he was going to kick me out, because he told me to follow him. We were in the cabin, and he smacked an old homeless man sitting in, I guess, my seat, with his stick, sending him running down the aisle. I got a seat, at least. Because it was late (11:15pm), I was worried Ranthambore was in the middle of nature, with no lights or rickshaws or anything. Instead, I was accosted by rickshaw drivers competing for the lowest fares. I took one for 10 Rs, and told him to take me to meet my parents in Taj Lodge. He instead took me to some random hotel with Hindi-only signs, and they tried to get me to stay there. I was sick, tired, hungry, and pissed, and yelled for him to take me to Taj Lodge. We got back in and he drove me to some South Indian restaurant. I screamed and swore at him in front of a bunch of random people. I was in absolutely no mood to be taken for a ride by touts at this point. I marched off, and walked down the street. He got back in his rickshaw and followed me, so I had to hide behind a car in front of a random shop. The guys in the shop were laughing at me, and one spoke really good English. After hearing my story, he felt bad and gave me a ride in his car to the Taj Lodge, a huge gated luxury resort a far cry from the tiny motel and South Indian restaurant I was taken to previously. I met up with Mom and Dad, but wanted nothing more to be warm and sleep.