The five methods used by Indian touts

(Also see: Four ways to avoid being tricked by Indian touts)

My unfortunate experience with touts when I first got to Delhi has helped me break down some of their methods. A primer:

1) Touts gain your trust.
This can work in a variety of ways. First, of course, they can pretend to be someone else (like Viki, the man who approached me at the train station with an “Employee of India” badge). Second, they reveal personal information (like Khan, who informed me he was a 23-year-old virgin)(Khan also may have been trying to get in my pants). Third, they warn you against touts (like Anil, who told me to be sure to go to the government’s tourism information office and even circled them on my map, trusting--correctly--that I wouldn’t check the map when he didn't bring me to those offices). Fourth, they play to your vanity (“Why did you come up to me?” I asked Vijay, who said sheepishly, “Indian guys like Western women.”).
2) Touts tell you there are no other options beyond the ones they’re offering you.At one office I said I wanted to get a train ticket for Agra the next day. The agent pulled up the official Indian rail website and showed me that two trains were sold out. I pointed out that there were a host of other trains he hadn’t checked, but he refused to check them. Then he wanted my itinerary. I gave him a list of things I wanted to see. He said my only two options were a train pass that locked me into certain dates (minimum $540) or a personal driver ($998). I reiterated that all I wanted was to get to Agra tomorrow. He said the trains were all booked, a bus would take 7-8 hours, and that at this late date I could only go if I had a train pass or a personal driver. 

3) Touts tell you that you don’t understand how India works.

I insisted that I just needed to make it to Agra and would handle the rest of my trip from there. The agent and Vijay emphasized that India was not like Europe, that trains lacked flexibility, that I had no idea how India works. Vijay described a scenario in which, by not booking a train pass, I would be stuck in a city for days. 

4) Touts tell you legit operations are scams.

I actually considered a $295 package that included a one-way flight to Srinigar in Kashmir, as well as a week’s accommodation. But I wanted to check flight prices online first. Vijay was visibly agitated by this plan. “You worry too much about money instead of your safety!” he said. “My safety? What are you talking about?” I asked. “The Internet is a scam. You could lose your money by booking online,” he said. 

5) Touts work in teams.

When Vijay first brought me to an agency, he sat in the waiting room. As he saw that I wasn’t budging with the agent, he joined us and began making me feel like I was silly for wanting to do things my own way. And let me tell you, it’s effective. When two people gang up to tell you that you don’t know anything, you begin to doubt yourself, to think everything you thought you knew is wrong.

Or they literally work in teams. At the train station I ditched one tout who claimed I needed a boarding pass instead of my printed e-ticket, and another instantly came up and said I needed a boarding pass. It made me think, do I need a boarding pass?

I’m embarrassed by my dealings with the touts. I let them bully me, ignore my questions and requests, and say demeaning things about me in Hindi. I didn’t challenge them even as I thought, “Wouldn’t a real travel agency work with what I want?”

But while I may be meek and mild, I’m also cheap as hell, and they didn’t get a penny from me. I went home and booked a train ticket online to Agra for the next day for $3. A thousand dollars for a personal driver, my ass.