Why the Mexican ambassador to India is too cool for Delhi's posh circles

The Mexican ambassador to India, the gorgeous Melba Pria, is used to raising eyebrows whenever she makes an entrance, of sort.

Delhi, known for its penchant for the price tag, doesn't quite know how to handle Pria's chosen mode of transportation, a beautiful white with painted floral patterns, "chauffeur-driven", autorickshaw, complete with a diplomatic "blue" number plate and a Mexican flag to boot.  

Thinking out of the box, Mexican style! Ambassador Melba Pria shows the way. @EmbaMexInd https://t.co/ZFpIhWN1y7 pic.twitter.com/194F8GBdZp

— Ramesh Ramachandran (@RRRameshRRR) March 20, 2016

RT @DiplomaciaMx: La imagen del día: @ruizmassieu en gira de trabajo en #India | #DiplomaciaMx: @EmbaMexInd pic.twitter.com/kb3wKnjjEP

— EmbaMexInd (@EmbaMexInd) March 15, 2016

On Tuesday (April 5, 2016), Melba Pria's vehicle wasn't allowed to enter the hallowed premises of the India Habitat Centre, easily one of the cultural hearts of New Delhi. The security apparatus at IHC was evidently "confused" at the curious vehicle in which Pria was travelling. The icing on the gargantuan cake of irony was that Pria was not only invited to deliver a talk at IHC that evening, but she was to speak on the issue of public transport!

Even though the organisers of the event intervened, the IHC management refused to grant permission for the white diplomatic auto-rickshaw to enter and park inside the premises. This is in sharp contravention of the diplomatic protocols, obviously.

But more importantly, this episode points towards the ridiculous inflexibility and the sheer class-based hierarchy on which the so-called "rules" of these establishment hubs, such as IHC, have been framed. Not only do the rules presume that only elites with recognisable and socially-stratified vehicles, such as luxury four-wheelers, air-conditioned sedans and gas-guzzling SUVs, partake of IHC "culture", but that any debate and discourse on cultural politics are equally the domain of the financially well-off.

@vamhussain Sir, Mexican Ambassador Melba Pria @EmbMexInd rides an offcial auto #Simplicity!! pic.twitter.com/sJKuqXrecF

— Gurjeev Singh Walia (@gurjeevwalia) March 22, 2016

Pria, on the other hand, is a walking-talking subversion that the tell-me-how-much-that-cost-you Delhi doesn't how to categorise. Melba Pria, in her bid to amalgamate better with Delhi's aam aadmi, whose top mode of transportation is the auto-rickshaw, moves around in a customised three-wheeler. Even her driver enjoys this atypical consular vehicle and grins a lot of while on duty.

She says she has received a lot of positive response from Delhiites, but clearly she meant the middle classes that actually use the auto-rickshaw. Her white auto, usually parked at the Mexican embassy in Anand Niketan, has garnered much kudos for the lovely floral design painted by Mexican street artist Senkoe.

It's a shame that Pria, an outsider, is more concerned about fighting the environmental pollution in Delhi than the wealthy, IHC-frequenting denizens of the national capital themselves.