Auto

My latest adventure in Bangalore bellows with defiance and confusion, visibly the story of a new person in a city attempting to find a way through insane standards, while still attempting to carry respect for the common man.

Feeling celebratory the day after our presentation the previous day, four of us from the group (Christy, Silvia, Anindya and I) decided to visit the splendor of MG road. The mode of transportation was the ever dependable auto rickshaw. Codenamed everything from auto, rickshaw, tempo, and the current hip term "rick", it is prevalent in Asia. With the soft top painted yellow and the metal side black, its three dependable wheels can take it as fast as 50 km an hour. It is a must for any visitor and I have also had the pleasure of driving it. The payment is determined by a attached meter, that starts with a base amount of 14 rupees, and stays stagnant for the first two kilometers, then increasing in increments of 50 paise based on the distance. As any resident will tell you, attempting to make a trip by meter is impossible, instead preferring negotiation, as the driver is quite keen on making extra. For though it gets us where we need to go, the auto leaves a trail of negotiation, grudges, and misunderstandings behind.

We found one such auto after a short walk. As there were four of us we agreed on the one and half meter rate. We were on our way and traveled for 15 minutes hoping to get off at the destination. After a while I realized from my limited knowledge of the city that the directions did not seem to add up as we were not passing any familiar landmarks that greeted us on the way to MG road. Suddenly I saw a sign for Jayanagar (the area we had departed from). The group had also made this startling realization and asked where we were going. The driver citing confusion kept going but it was clear that we had made a large square and driven back to the same spot we had started from. As the meter works on distance traveled drivers are known to elongate the journey to unscrupulously earn more money but this was such a unique case that even in attempting to be fraudulent he had not taken us for a “ride” but brought us back where we started. (I later remarked to Anindya that the driver should go and take lessons on taking people for a ride if that's what his intention is).

The driver's attempt to pacify us was to carry forth on the journey and than get a discount on the fare. We were not amicable to this and immediately asked get off. We refused to pay him and he asked for 20 rupees. After two minutes of intense arguments in Hindi we paid him 10 and got another auto. We decided to let the incident be and focused on this ride and our plans. However when things looked hopeful again the auto stalled in the middle of a flyover (overpass) at a point where nothing could be done. We were all but stranded on a incline with a small stepping divider that gave us but only two meters to walk before the road became a two way mangle of traffic. As it was not his fault we got off and laughed at our luck.

Thankfully a third auto stopped in less than a minute and we attempted to negotiate a ride with him. When we asked for meter and half and he said 40 rupees. We asked again and he remained steadfast, only to be convinced when we explained our disposition and pointing out the other stalled rickshaw. He gave way and meter it was! The driver was a unique man for we had a 30 second conversation where we negotiated and asked about the road. He was able to do it all without uttering a single word and through hand motions and shaking his head. He could easily be crowned a king in the game of charades for he was able to do all without a display of any emotion or facial movements. He was able to get us to our destination and left without uttering a word. All we had to worry about now was the ride home which thankfully went smoothly.