Since I have come back to India I have been across 4 metros (3 states). If you think that the first thing I noticed was the culture/language barrier..well you are in for a surprise. Nope...what I noticed and experienced first hand were the behaviour patterns of autorickshaw drivers. It truly is amazing ! Let me elaborate city by city:
Pune:
While my husband and I were in the not so joyful process of apartment hunting, we would come across several "auto hubs" (In colloquiall lingo: jhund).If we asked them for a ride to a place - they would take their time measuring us, and quote a price on which you could get a ticket to the next state ! Needless to say we headed out with caps and bottles of water from the next day, imagining that we are off on a roadside hike !
Chennai:
Hmm... I have a partiality towards this city..being born and brought up etc etc..But let me make it clear that I draw a line between the love for the city and disdain for the auto community. Atleast the pune guys were honest enough to quote a price which we could choose to refuse, but here the man would happily take you till the destination offering tit bits of general local gossip. He would wait till you have reached to drop the bomb of asking atleast 2/3 times the amount on the meter. If you refused to oblige, well then beware you can learn all the choiciest expletives that tamil language has to offer, with the accompanying mannerisms.
Bangalore:
The incident which I am going to site is not a fragment of my imagination so pay attention my friends ! I set off to bangalore to spend a month with close family and friends, right after getting back from US. So yes you could say that I was very green in all aspects of survival. Once when I was getting back from my music class I got into an auto after specifying my destination. Well either he had misunderstood me or he was in a mood to pick a fight because somewhere in the middle he started complaining that I had cheated him by indicating a wrong place. I was baffled by his behaviour, and asked him to stop. Obviously I must have pushed a wrong button, cause that aggravated him to driving faster and taking on a route I had never seen before. So I did what we girls do the best ! I screamed and jumped out of the running auto!!! I must have caused quite a ruckus, before I knew it I had an audience of 10-15 do-gooders, who thrive on situations such as these. That day was a revelation, cause I never knew I had it in me to curse like a fisher woman. Once I was done blowing off the steam, I threw the money on his face and walked back home. Ofcourse the adrenalin died once I got home, and I had a bad case of shivers and a mother of all shoulder sprain !!!
Mumbai:
After the above anecdote, my 2 liner on the plight of mumbai residents at the hand of auto rickshaws is going to sound very mundane. But hey I have to complete my analysis !! Just a simple word of advice to those relying on auto's as a means of commute in Mumbai - DONT...Because they have attitude,attitude and more attitude or maybe they have loads of money burried in a rabbit hole. Anyway they would prefer to cruise on their own, rather than transport you to your destination, even if it happens to be on their way.
Whew after this heavy R & D & Analysis - I am exhausted..will see you all next year !
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