A fellow blogger and an old friend commented on his blog that the autodrivers in Bangalore make their Delhi counterparts seem like 'angels'. Having interned in Delhi for 6 weeks and now in my 9th week in Bangalore, I couldn't agree more. Delhi autowallahs by their very nature is rude and 'out to rip you off'. I remember another friend mentioning once that he'd asked one such driver why he's being such a 'chor'. The driver's prompt reply was "bhaiya hum nahin lootenge toh duniya hum-e loot legi"; which roughly translates to "if I don't loot, then the world will loot me". The various moralities involved in the aforementioned statement is not something that concerns me. If anyone's ever been to dilli one will vouch for the fact the over there its usually every man for himself. Unless you get really lucky ofcourse.
However, back to the autodrivers; they cheat/attempt to cheat everyone they meet. Literally. Irrespective of whether the person is or is not a local. Obviously its easier to cheat outsiders. However, in Bangalore the autodrivers, and locals in general treat outsiders with a certain...I don't know how to say, I guess the word would be "vindictiveness". If I maybe so audacious as to say so about a city that boasts its cosmopolitan nature. By locals I don't mean the crowd you come across at one of those high end law firms, or the ones you bump into at Pecos or other such pubs which are considered to be 'institutions' in this city. The segment of the public I'm talking about is to be found in the buses, or the "sagar" restaurants (veg outlets all over the city. not a brand name, but rather the word signifies a certain type of service/menu....there are too many of these, perfect competition style). In these places I have had experiences ranging from being given a ticket to my expected destination by a conductor who knew that the bus doesn't even go by anywhere near (ofcourse none of my fellow passengers bothered pointing this out the numerous tims I enquired if my stop had come by until I myself finally asked if the bus actually goes there or not) to being refused papad on the excuse that its over, late night at one such 'sagar' restaurant, five minutes after which you see some locals being served the same. I guess they were running out of papads and hence reserved them for "their own kind". Not to mention a night when I was walking home drunk and got lost and turned to some cops for directions. They started speaking to me in their language knowing fully well I wasn't understanding anything they had to say. After which they proceeded to take my wallet out. I had 6 hundred rupee notes and a 10er. They took all 600 and were "kind" enough to put a 50 rupee note back so that I reach home, and then actually showed me the way I am to take (And all this at 11:45pm just 5 minutes walk of the hallowed MG Road).
So when I was shifting PGs with all my baggage on me, I knew that the autos I was going to stop were going to try and rip me off as much as they could. Its strange but here you sort of expect to get mugged. Its just the intensity of the mugging that varies. The rates mentioned to me for an approximately 5km stretch ranged from Rs.120 to Rs.200. Being a proud bong (note miserly tendencies) I refused to entertain anything above 'Metre+Rs.20'. After dismissing about 3 autos, or rather being dismissed by them, I chanced upon an auto driven by a young man who allowed me in without any referance to the fare. I just said "AnandRao Circle bhaiya", and he nodded and promptly turned the metre. I did not wish to speak much to him lest he figures out that I really don't know the right way to my destination and hence proceeds to rip me off. He however weaved through the irritating Bangalore traffic like a pro and stayed nonchalant right through.
Ten minutes into the ride I realised I needed a smoke and wasn't carrying any, so I had to open my mouth and ask to him to stop at the next 'pan shop'. He took that opportunity to strike up a converstaion with me. It began with what brand of cigarrettes we smoked to how the petrol pump guys rip these autodrivers off by entering less than paid for amount of fuel in their tanks. Which is why my present driver always buys petrol in a bottle and fills his tank himself. I was thrilled to know that Kannadigas actually cheat other Kannadigas as well! At this point we sighted a pan shop and I asked him to pull over and offered to buy him a smoke which he politely refused. On my insistence he agreed to have a Gold Flake small. After this smoke-break the ride resumed as usual with us both being silent. I decided I like this man. Even if he cheats me it won't really be that bad. Once we reached my destination I figured I had no idea which way the guest house I was headed to was located. So I decided to get off, and search for it on foot. I got down at the circle, took down my luggage and paid our man the metre. It had come to Rs.43. I then proceed to lug my bags to the nearest pan shops and ask for directions. Again being an "outsider" I was met with random snubbs and laughs. Sometimes someone pointed to a particular direction to help, but the moment they got into details I was lost. I didn't know the language and they communicated in broken english.
What I didn't know was that my driver was nearby watching me. On seeing my absolute plight and struggle with my bags, he drove upto me from behind and asked me to get in while we searched for it in the auto. I refused but he insisted and off went traversing various one-ways and two way lanes looking for KEB Guest House. With his fluency of Kannada he finally managed to get me there, but in meantime we had gone back and forth the same route quite some distance for which he hadn't put down the metre, nor had I set a price. On finding my destination I remembered that I'm actually supposed to reimburse him, and asked him how much to pay. He refused to take any money from me by replying that just I could pay him by praying for him "dua mangna gareeb ke liye". '
I have had some rough times settling in this city, and some fine times too. But I just wanted to dedicate a page of my life to that random autoguy. I do not know his name, and this thought just hit me. However I hope this suffices as a prayer for a good man. God Bless.
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