Menacing auto-rickshaws and their drivers!

I was writing my internals in class, when I heard one of my juniors, in her last round of Ms Personality, giving her thoughts on auto drivers outside college. What a question to ask I wondered.

The girl ranted her frustration about how the ‘ever-ready to pounce’ drivers waited for a smart Carmelite to pick their vehicle. And also about how they’d charge insane rates in spite of flaunting their latest electronic meters! Guess its Chennai for them!

I could not agree better with that girl. I actually stopped writing and listened to her vent out. I have taken the autos several times outside college and each one of them has a link of sorts. Some will go only to Malleshwaram, some to MG Road and so on. Each driver has his choice of saying yes or no, but here it’s all fixed in advance. Worse of it all, these guys don’t even bother waiting to be approached. Like tourist guides, they leap on the poor girls.

In my previous blogs, I have also mentioned about the insane, unscrupulous behaviour by these drivers. Obviously I cannot generalise, but I am sure 8 out of 10 drivers are out there to jut their necks out of the vehicle to eye at women, whether decently clad or otherwise. A bus ahead of them, two-wheelers on either side, cars behind; who cares! The road belongs to him and he can, at his whim, change directions on a busy road. The indicator will show right, and he alarmingly, to others mind you, will take a left with ease. Worse of it all, no indicators at times!
There are honest drivers as I said. At 5 in the morning, I urgently needed to get to the hospital and the nice chap was ready to drop me for free! On the contrast, I had this jaw-dropping experience. I returned from Chennai one morning at around 4:30. The auto driver demanded 50% extra of what the meter showed and I willingly accepted as these are the norms in Bangalore. A 4 km ride from the Bangalore Bus Stand, I was not even half way and the meter sped its away much faster than the driver’s himself!!! What I was to pay at my destination was already on the meter. I picked up a fight instantly. His answer was startling. “Madam, you belong to Bangalore is it? I thought you belonged to Chennai. Anyway people there pay much more, so big deal! Since you speak the local language and seem like one among us, pay whatever the right amount is.”

For a second I did not know how to react. “What about people from other states man? They just get tricked is it?” was my question. His answer was a menacing smile! I was more than happy to just get home safely. Who knows what else they’d do if I belonged to another state!

Moving on, politically too, auto drivers are here to create some trouble. I can never forget the day when Kannada’s biggest film star passed away and these auto drivers created such a drama and actually shut down shops all the way. The shouting and the lunacy is hard to forget.

On October 12, there was an auto strike which on peacefully I must say. They were against the government because the latter wanted a change of colour of the vehicles from black-yellow to green! There were some who still came on to the roads and charged phenomenally high rates, but otherwise it was a peaceful strike.

On October 16, a newspaper carried an article saying that the government ordered to check for the reduction in pollution rates in two major areas in the city where the number of autos operating is large. And as expected, following were the results:
Sulphur di oxide reduced by 29%, oxides of nitrogen by 59%, oxides of carbon by 33% at the city station alone! The article further went on to mention the various impacts it will have on health. Lastly, it was written that most autos in the city, about 65,000 in number are two-stroke vehicles, which have incomplete combustion thereby causing pollution. If they are replaced to four-stroke vehicles, the amount of pollution will apparently come down.

Frankly, with all the pollution and the agony the drivers and their vehicles are causing, the number of vehicles must slowly be reduced. Yes, I agree many people in this city do not prefer using public transport and rely upon autos but then with all these ill-effects, I am sure people can shift to another mode and with the arrival of the metro, however late, people have options.

On the employment side, these drivers may be taught to drive larger vehicles and may be given employment in other sectors. Many drivers still feel they lost out on education and with so many plans to help the under-privileged, the government could fund for the families at least till they complete a level of education where they can get decent jobs.

Thoughts beget reality! Maybe these little thoughts may provide fodder to those who read these articles and are in a position to make that change!