 "Melba Pria: Auto-rickshaw diplomat")
The moment the gate to the Embassy of Mexico in New Delhi opens slightly, there is a flutter among the crowd waiting outside in a queue, presumably for visas, who expect to see the luxury sedan, or bulletproof SUV, of the ambassador - instead, what they see is a colourful auto-rickshaw complete with a blue diplomatic number plate. This, a TVS King, is the official vehicle of the Mexican ambassador to India, Melba Pria.
Though the sun is scorching outside, the interiors of her home inside the embassy are delightfully cool and quiet. Her political affairs officer, Andrea Huerta Cruz, a young woman in her 20s who recently moved to India, leads to way to the ambassador.
Pria greets me with a firm and warm handshake. Dressed in a black skirt and a printed top, her shoulder-length hair pulled lightly back with a hair band, she looks like an empress at ease in her kingdom. Though casually dressed, her demeanour suggests that she is taking this meeting seriously.
It was in January when Pria, newly posted to India, decided that she wanted an auto-rickshaw as her official vehicle. "It was a way to honour something that was so Indian." That apart, the three-wheel vehicle, she says, has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other means of transport. "The air we breathe does not distinguish between class or race; it is the most democratic aspect of life in that sense," says the diplomat.
Her deep concern for air quality, she says, stems from her roots in Mexico and Mexico City's appalling record with pollution. "The city was able to turn its air pollution record around and vastly improve the health of its residents because it focussed on public transport. I think, in many ways, Delhi is in the same situation right now," says the 58-year-old.
While Mexico City today has 286 good air days, Delhi has only 16, she says. "I share the same air and water as millions of Delhiites. While I am still Mexican, today, here and now, I must think as a resident of Delhi."
The ambassador's comments seem particularly interesting at a time when several expatriates have chosen to move out of Delhi after a World Health Organization report gave the city the "most polluted city in the world" tag.
Besides the pollution, Pria says Delhi feels like home. "India and Mexico are similar, yet different in so many ways. While I live in awe of India's culture, it doesn't come as a shock to me," she says. Plus, she adds, it helps to have a name that sounds oddly Indian - "priya" in Hindi means "beloved" and is a common name in Delhi.
Born in a liberal Mexican family, Pria has two brothers and a sister. She attributes her current worldview and professional growth to her family, especially her grandparents, who emphasised the importance of equality. "In fact, I would say that the girls were given an advantage over the boys, especially when it came to education."
Though she has a large family back in Mexico, she lives alone in Delhi. "But all of you [residents of Delhi] are my family," she smiles.
Cruz, her political manager, says that Pria's day begins at 5 am, and by the time Cruz gets to work, the ambassador has already gone for a run, a swim and perhaps even for a bicycle round around the block.
Her outdoorsy personality is what has attracted the ambassador to the auto-rickshaw, says Cruz. With her political manager, Pria is almost maternal, ticking her off about the pallazos that are sweeping the ground. They share a pithy conversation in Spanish, before turning their attention back to me.
Though an air purifier sits unassumingly inside the tastefully done up visitors' room, Pria chooses not to wear a mask while travelling or get her auto-rickshaw covered. "The most fascinating outcome of travelling in an auto-rickshaw was the number of conversations I was able to have with people on the streets of Delhi. If I was to cover the auto and make it air-conditioned, that would stop," she explains.
The ambassador's 33-year-old driver, Rajender Kumar, says he often gets asked when he stops at traffic signals if a new company is entering the auto-rickshaw segment in the city. "When I tell them it is a private vehicle, auto-rickshaw drivers seem to first be relieved and then happy that the vehicle they drive is gaining so much attention," he says.
"Since it is such a tiny vehicle, drivers face a lot of hostility from buses, bikes and sedans on the roads of Delhi," says Pria. This, she says, is her way of highlighting the plight of auto-rickshaw drivers in Delhi.
Dressed in a grey safari suit, Kumar drives the auto-rickshaw in office formals, sometimes even with a tie to go with his formal trousers, shirt and shoes in case the occasion demands it. "When the ambassador first told me that I had to drive an auto-rickshaw, I was extremely nervous and didn't think it would be possible," Kumar laughs. It took him over a week to learn how to navigate an auto-rickshaw and be confident enough to drive it. Today, the driver who has been used to driving a Toyota Corolla, has driven the auto-rickshaw to relatively distant locations, including the Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Habitat Centre and even Gurgaon.
But not everything went as planned when Kumar wanted to drive through the gate to the reception area of Parliament. "The guard was very courteous but thoroughly confused after he saw our identification and the diplomatic corps number plate," says Pria with an impish grin.
While this situation was eventually resolved, it gave Pria the status of the "cool diplomat", especially with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. "When Mexico's foreign affairs minister came to India, I travelled to the ministry of external affairs (housed in South Block) to meet Swaraj and Modi. As the Prime Minister shook my hand, he looked at me and said, 'I head you're travelling in an autorickshaw!' I could feel my ears burning up," laughs Pria.
At the same meeting, Swaraj asked for her mobile phone to click a selfie with the ambassador and her auto-rickshaw.
Though her colleagues at the embassy worry about her security, and now the heat, Pria offers a shrug in response. "Like I said, I am a Delhiite. I'm sure we'll find a way to beat the heat," she says. The ambassador travels without a security detail, but also has a Toyota Corolla car for when guests arrive from Mexico and who may not be comfortable with her maverick choice.
"I respect protocol when it is required, but I do not believe that it cannot evolve over time. Twenty years ago, you could have never imagined that India would have a prime minister who clicks selfies."
It seems the world has some catching up to do with this spunky diplomat.
Though the sun is scorching outside, the interiors of her home inside the embassy are delightfully cool and quiet. Her political affairs officer, Andrea Huerta Cruz, a young woman in her 20s who recently moved to India, leads to way to the ambassador.
Pria greets me with a firm and warm handshake. Dressed in a black skirt and a printed top, her shoulder-length hair pulled lightly back with a hair band, she looks like an empress at ease in her kingdom. Though casually dressed, her demeanour suggests that she is taking this meeting seriously.
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As I begin to ask her about the auto-rickshaw, Pria laughs and says: "Yes, it is quite a celebrity now."
It was in January when Pria, newly posted to India, decided that she wanted an auto-rickshaw as her official vehicle. "It was a way to honour something that was so Indian." That apart, the three-wheel vehicle, she says, has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other means of transport. "The air we breathe does not distinguish between class or race; it is the most democratic aspect of life in that sense," says the diplomat.
Her deep concern for air quality, she says, stems from her roots in Mexico and Mexico City's appalling record with pollution. "The city was able to turn its air pollution record around and vastly improve the health of its residents because it focussed on public transport. I think, in many ways, Delhi is in the same situation right now," says the 58-year-old.
While Mexico City today has 286 good air days, Delhi has only 16, she says. "I share the same air and water as millions of Delhiites. While I am still Mexican, today, here and now, I must think as a resident of Delhi."
The ambassador's comments seem particularly interesting at a time when several expatriates have chosen to move out of Delhi after a World Health Organization report gave the city the "most polluted city in the world" tag.
Besides the pollution, Pria says Delhi feels like home. "India and Mexico are similar, yet different in so many ways. While I live in awe of India's culture, it doesn't come as a shock to me," she says. Plus, she adds, it helps to have a name that sounds oddly Indian - "priya" in Hindi means "beloved" and is a common name in Delhi.
Born in a liberal Mexican family, Pria has two brothers and a sister. She attributes her current worldview and professional growth to her family, especially her grandparents, who emphasised the importance of equality. "In fact, I would say that the girls were given an advantage over the boys, especially when it came to education."
Though she has a large family back in Mexico, she lives alone in Delhi. "But all of you [residents of Delhi] are my family," she smiles.
Cruz, her political manager, says that Pria's day begins at 5 am, and by the time Cruz gets to work, the ambassador has already gone for a run, a swim and perhaps even for a bicycle round around the block.
Her outdoorsy personality is what has attracted the ambassador to the auto-rickshaw, says Cruz. With her political manager, Pria is almost maternal, ticking her off about the pallazos that are sweeping the ground. They share a pithy conversation in Spanish, before turning their attention back to me.
Though an air purifier sits unassumingly inside the tastefully done up visitors' room, Pria chooses not to wear a mask while travelling or get her auto-rickshaw covered. "The most fascinating outcome of travelling in an auto-rickshaw was the number of conversations I was able to have with people on the streets of Delhi. If I was to cover the auto and make it air-conditioned, that would stop," she explains.
The ambassador's 33-year-old driver, Rajender Kumar, says he often gets asked when he stops at traffic signals if a new company is entering the auto-rickshaw segment in the city. "When I tell them it is a private vehicle, auto-rickshaw drivers seem to first be relieved and then happy that the vehicle they drive is gaining so much attention," he says.
"Since it is such a tiny vehicle, drivers face a lot of hostility from buses, bikes and sedans on the roads of Delhi," says Pria. This, she says, is her way of highlighting the plight of auto-rickshaw drivers in Delhi.
Dressed in a grey safari suit, Kumar drives the auto-rickshaw in office formals, sometimes even with a tie to go with his formal trousers, shirt and shoes in case the occasion demands it. "When the ambassador first told me that I had to drive an auto-rickshaw, I was extremely nervous and didn't think it would be possible," Kumar laughs. It took him over a week to learn how to navigate an auto-rickshaw and be confident enough to drive it. Today, the driver who has been used to driving a Toyota Corolla, has driven the auto-rickshaw to relatively distant locations, including the Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Habitat Centre and even Gurgaon.
But not everything went as planned when Kumar wanted to drive through the gate to the reception area of Parliament. "The guard was very courteous but thoroughly confused after he saw our identification and the diplomatic corps number plate," says Pria with an impish grin.
While this situation was eventually resolved, it gave Pria the status of the "cool diplomat", especially with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. "When Mexico's foreign affairs minister came to India, I travelled to the ministry of external affairs (housed in South Block) to meet Swaraj and Modi. As the Prime Minister shook my hand, he looked at me and said, 'I head you're travelling in an autorickshaw!' I could feel my ears burning up," laughs Pria.
At the same meeting, Swaraj asked for her mobile phone to click a selfie with the ambassador and her auto-rickshaw.
Though her colleagues at the embassy worry about her security, and now the heat, Pria offers a shrug in response. "Like I said, I am a Delhiite. I'm sure we'll find a way to beat the heat," she says. The ambassador travels without a security detail, but also has a Toyota Corolla car for when guests arrive from Mexico and who may not be comfortable with her maverick choice.
"I respect protocol when it is required, but I do not believe that it cannot evolve over time. Twenty years ago, you could have never imagined that India would have a prime minister who clicks selfies."
It seems the world has some catching up to do with this spunky diplomat.