Bus to India

Bus to India

We bought a tourist-class bus straight through to Bodhgaya in India. While we arranged the trip up to Nepal piecemeal and it worked fine (train to one spot, bus to the border, rickshaw across the border, another bus to Kathmandu), buying one ticket on a straight through bus is easier (although more expensive) and we felt lazy.

As is often the case with travel in the developing world, what we were promised and what we got were somewhat different. Despite the promised deluxe tourist bus, we were on a standard bus with Nepalese and Tibetan refugees. We were the only Westerners. Actually the trip helped us to more fully understand the plight of the refugees, and the corruption of the India government.

The bus had an unusual number of Tibetans because the Dalai Lama is giving a teaching in Bihar, and the Tibetans flock to see him. Over 100,000 people will attend the Kalichakra teachings in mid-January. Tibetans are already migrating throughout the subcontinent on their way to this event. Most of these people are very poor. Many have collected a few items to sell along the way, such as some cheap pots or shoes from China.

The Tibetan refugees are allowed to stay in Nepal, but not issued visas so they cannot cross any border legally. What this means in practice is that they must pay bribes on both the Nepali side and the India side to pass through. The merchandise they carry to sell is legally smuggling, so they pay a "tariff" to the officials. Our bus paid about 1500 rupees ($30) from the passengers at each crossing, over a $1 per person. That may not seem like much but remember that these people live on just a couple of hundred dollars a year, and will only make a few dollars on the goods they are smuggling.

We crossed the border into Bihar Pradesh in India. It is the poorest state in India, and has the most corrupt government. None of the money that enters the state benefits the people, and everything is decaying. For example, municipal officials siphon off funds and do not pay electric bills, so whole cities have their power turned off. Road improvement funds disappear, while the roads remain treacherous. Crime is exceptionally high. Doctors and teachers do not travel alone or at night, because they are regularly kidnapped by armed bandits for ransom. The local police do nothing, and presumably get part of the payoff. So far, the bandits have not touched foreigners since that could provoke the wrath of the national government (India has a unique rule that allows the national government to dissolve a state's government and take over directly if it is inept or corrupt. This has been used a few times in other areas in the past, and it seems to me that it should be used in Bihar).

After the border crossing, the bus was stopped by armed bandits. After a delay of an hour, including much shouting, pushing and shoving, the bandits extorted 5000 rupees from the passengers. The bus attendants served as the negotiators, repeatedly getting a few bumps from the bandits, and then returning to collect more cash from the passengers. Later we were told that this is just a role they play and that they in fact get paid by the bandits to stop there and just put on a show of fighting the bandits so that the passengers will feel grateful and then pay whatever the bus attendant has negotiated.

Later, armed officials in uniforms stopped the bus and inspected it. They confiscated all of the merchandise that the Tibetans were smuggling. So after buying the goods and paying bribes, they ended up with nothing. The officials presumably with sell the goods themselves.

As we travel and reflect on the causes of such destitute living, bad government continues to be the most common factor. It is not so much which form of government as the quality of the people in government. India is the world's largest democracy, with a strong free press, but the government is incredibly corrupt and the people suffer. Thailand is a monarchy making progress. Most of Africa is ruled by thugs, regardless of whether through a military coup or the ballot box. In Chinese Tibet, the authoritarian communist government continues to torture and murder, while on the eastern Seaboard the Chinese communist party has brought great prosperity and most people do not want a different form of government. While Americans believe that democracy is the best form of government, the real point is the quality of the people in power. The key is to have checks on their power so that no one person or party can amass dangerous power.

The common people are the ones that always suffer. Those with money or power do just fine. Even India has a large middle-class immune to such difficulties. It is sickening to see how the rich and powerful prey on the powerless.