Friday, July 18, 2008

Auto Madame????

I have never had an ill feeling towards auto drivers until I reached Bangalore.
My mind had always picturised them as the sweet person who took me to school and that of Sudhi(Played by mohanLal) in the malayalam flick'Aye auto'.
The whole idea has been distorted by the auto walas in Bangalore.
They are nothing but day light looters.
I agree there are many civilised,well mannered ones also here. But definitely none of the auto walas in front of Forum(either side)fall in this category.
There are ruffian and villain auto drivers in Kerala too, but definitely its worse here.

It's only here in Bangalore that they charge you more than double and triple the fare even at normal hours.
Once i couldn't help but laugh when an auto charged 100Rs where it would cost me the minimum just because that is the standard.

The same destination by the same route the same day has once costed me double the amount.

Once they realise you are not familiar with the route they take you on loooooong rides.

And when you try to argue with them,a sudden amnesia comes over them and they forget even the bits and pieces of hindi or english they Knew!!!

The most difficult part is sometimes getting an auto. We always have trouble getting one for our friend. We tell the auto drivers Koramangala 1st Block and they drive away faster than they came.

Don't fall for the politeness and gentleness with which they offer their service when you come out of Forum!!!
"Auto madame??".
Your wish is my command.I will take you wherever you want to go or so they sound.Just tell your destination and they turn their faces away and then they agree to do a meherbaani by taking you to where ever you want to go at double the price.

I live nearby,just walkable distance from office.:-) so when ever I hear that question "Auto madame??" I either say a sharp No!!Or completely ignore them.Oh!I feel the contentment of having won a battle
.
Once when we hired an auto and asked the driver to take us somewhere he didn't agree. He demanded extra and then half of that and then an extra on that!!After bargaining and arguing we asked him where exactly was he willing to take us on the normal fare. a little here and a little there and he finally told us he would drop us at some place.'Oh! That's great!'said my brother. 'Please go and come back yourself' ;-).And we went on our way.

Then there are an entirely different lot.They are harmless and not looters.Its the 'aap jaise logon ko chodne ke liye hi hum subah-subah ghar se nikalte hai' type. Their only problem is that they will entertain you throughout the trip with their questions and answers and comments and opinions and suggetsions.
"Madame aap shivraathri nahi manati???"
"Kyu??"
"madame aap musalmaan ho??"
"Madame tho aap burkha kyu nahi pehanti???"
My only saviour in such moments is my mobile...

4 comments:

Sheethu said...

Friends..i am that lucky one from koramangala 1st block :-)
nice post Fari...very true indeed !
salaams to all those polite and sincere auto walas..GET WELL SOON to the rest !

Farz said...

i guess,very soon i will join u too..

Abhinav Viswambharan said...

hey bhagwan...inn autowaalon ki vaat lage...

raheem said...

humerous and meaningful.i like the language verymuch