2 Autowallahs..

Originally posted on October 27, 2008 somewhere else. As a part of the restructuring of my online activities that blog has been deleted. So the first and only post there(this one) has been moved here:

Ah... finally, the first post on this blog, months after I created it. The blog is about people around me, those who have knowingly, unknowingly made me whatever I am. And the people whom you know are not the only ones who make you what you are, an equal or possibly a more important role is played by strangers. And so I begin this blog with an account about a stranger.

The festive season has begun, with the advent of Diwali. And so has the week-long vacation period. I started from Mumbai yesterday evening to reach Delhi today afternoon in Sampark Kranti(Connection + Revolution). The train was about 15 minutes late, Indian railways has indeed improved. To reach home from the railway station I usually take an auto. Sometimes pre-paid, other times bargained. Indian autowallahs and cab drivers are considered to be some of the most notorious in the world, with the success rate in fleecing in some parts of the country as high as 98.3%. The cab drivers internationally, if the various travelogues that I have read be taken into account, are not very different. Some more, some less, but sab ek hi thalli ke chate batte hain.Ofcourse, there are exceptions. The japanese cab drivers and the japanese people in general are considered to be some of the most honest in the world.

Anyway, the Delhi auto drivers are a class apart, they are experts in fleecing the most experienced travellers. The image is so strong that they are considered to be the worst in the country. But then those people who say so haven't travelled a lot in this country. As far as my experience goes bangalore autowallahs are the worst, followed by Delhi. Bangalore auto-wallahs not only fleece you, they are extremely rude. I have heard innumerable accounts of their misbehavior especially with girls.

Delhi auto wallahs lie to you, cheat you, and fleece you, but they are rude very rarely. Remember the term 'rude' is relative. Being a Delhiite I am quite used to the level of rudeness prevelant here, if you're from some first world country you might be in for a shocker. Bangalore was a shocker for me.

Last time(about a month back) I had bargained, I had sensed that there was a rise in the pre-paid prices so I settled for an amount which was about 34% more than what I paid last to last time. Because I was not sure about the pricing I chose to take a pre-paid slip(If you're a first time traveller, this is the best option that you've got). Since, it was high rush time, and auto-wallahs could find easy killings the pre-paid stand was empty. I went to the Traffic police constable, who stopped an auto for me. I put my luggage in, did not thank the hawaldaar(I was not happy with his reaction, and sensed the auto-wallah might play foul) and got into the auto.

The moment the autowallah moved out of the station I had a feeling that he was not taking the right route. With so much construction going on around the city, and with the trust that the religious leaders exhort us to repose in our fellow human beings, I chose to be ignorant. Anyhow, I wasn't going to pay him a penny extra, all I had was a piece of paper from him(the pre-paid voucher).

After about 5 minutes -

The auto stops all of a sudden, "Bhaisahib, the wire has broken. It will take me 10 minutes to set it right". I knew he was fooling around. I braced myself to the situation and prepared to do something that I am bad at, probably because I hate it, to 'screw' him. He moved towards an auto coming in our direction, I heard him asking for a wire. Then he asked the auto-wallah to take me to my destination.

"I will take 60 rupees."

"There is a prepaid slip, take that. Keep all of the money, don't give anything to me."

He agreed. I transferred my luggage. After about 10 minutes on the road, the second auto-wallah said "he was bringing you from the wrong route. He should have brought you from Lodhi Road. You would have been home by now."

"I know." I knew he was right. But these auto-wallahs are all almost the same, bitching about each other, about how wrong the other person is and how right they are, is one of their passtimes. I just looked at him in the rear-view mirror and smiled.

Then, when we were near the AIIMS flyover, this incident happened. There was this cycle-rickshaw puller, with about 10-15 heavy mattresses on his cycle rickshaw, pulling his rickshaw over the flyover. He was on his feet, that's all that I could see of him, applying whatever strength he had to pull the load to the top of the hill. The auto-wallah saw what was happening, moved the auto to the left(toward the rickshaw-wallah). He took out his left foot and put in on the rickshaw frame from behind and put his hand on the gas full throttle(the accelerator 'pedal' in an auto is in the handle). In a few seconds both the ricks were on the top of the flyover. I saw the hand of the cycle rickshaw puller coming out of the mattresses on the right, gesticulating that's good enough. The auto-wallah pulled back his leg. We moved ahead, the cycle rickshaw puller looked at the auto-driver and smiled. That said it all. Sometimes words are just not required.

I felt like tipping the auto-wallah, yeah a scrooge like me decided to tip. This chap deserved it.

Five minutes on and I reached my home. Actually, usually I get down at the Arya Samaj Temple and from there walk home. So that's where I got down, the Arya Samaj Mandir.

I gave him the chit. While I waited for him to open and check it, I asked:

"What's your name?"

"Jagdish"

"Where are you from?"

"Sarita Vihar"

"I meant where do you belong to, Delhi?"

"Ji Sahib. I am a Dilliwallah.". I suspected it.

He looked at the chit and said, "Sahib the chit says 55, after the Service Charges I'll get only Rs 50. I said 60, give me atleast Rs 5 more."

I looked at him and smiled, "I don't think I have the change. But if I do its all yours." I suspected I only had a Rs 2 Coin. I managed to find a Rs 5 coin.

I gave him the coin. He looked at me and smiled. Then he folded his hands, smiled and said "Agar koi bhool chook hui ho to maaf karna sahib, dhanyavaad".

I smiled back.