Transportation in India 1: Auto-Rickshaws
Sunday, February 12th, 2006
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The main form of public transportation in India is the auto-rickshaw. Imagine the design of a taxi crossed with a tricycle, with the size and power of a riding lawnmower. They’re also one of the riskiest means of travel, as the drivers will almost certainly either have no idea how to get where you’re going, or try to scam you.
Take, for example, my recent trip to InOrbit, the largest mall in India, to buy a new pair of shoes. I had been there before, it’s an 80 rupee, 35 minute drive. The first two drivers I asked had no idea where it was, and shrugged me off. Did I mention it’s biggest mall in India?** The third driver, nodded his head, and took off. About 20 minutes and 65 rupees later, I realized that we had gone out of the neighborhood, too the main street, near the highway, and taken the back roads back to where we had started. He finally admitted he had no idea where InOrbit was, and was doing a classic rickshaw-driver move, driving around and reading all the signs until he finds what you’re looking for. I told him to forget it, and he chased me around the neighborhood demanding his 65 rupees. A bystander tried to defend me, but the driver popped his daughter’s balloon in anger. I walked off in the middle of the ensuing slap fight and found another car.
But the real story is the fourth driver. Now, it’s no secret that many drivers have rigged meters that charge significantly more than they’re supposed to. But this guy, a tiny older man, with grey hair that had apparently been died black with roofing tar, actually drove out of his way to a small auto shop, and paid the man inside to come rig the meter while I was sitting in the vehicle. Keep in mind that a rickshaw is so small that the meter was basically in my lap at the time. I assumed that’s what they were doing, but my suspicions were confirmed when the numbers started spinning faster than ever. We arrived at the mall, and the cost had gone up from the usual 80 rupees to an absolutely unthinkable (in India) 300 rupees.
Rather than argue, I laughed hysterically at him for a good two minutes, and then paid the man. After all, the difference between 80 and 300 rupees is about 4 dollars. It was worth it for the story.
Tomorrow on “Transportation in India”: the train!
* every rickshaw has the words “stop signal” written below the stop signal. Just in case you didn’t know that it was the stop signal.
** the biggest mall in India is very, very, very small.
