1. He decides the destination…
Not difficult to see such kind of auto drivers…
We: Nungambakkam?
Autodriver: I am going to Tnagar…
( as if we asked him his plans for the day..!!!! )
2. They demand both the to and fro fare, for you to travel one way….
We: (at Koramangala...) Electronics city….?
AutoDriver: Electronics city… very far away madam… I have to return back home all the way madam… double meter….
( We argue and finally settle for 1.5 times the meter rate, as we also feel that it is in the outskirts.. )
Some other day..
We: ( at Electronics city…) Koramangala…
AutoDriver: 1.5 rate madam…
We: Why the hell? You are going to the main city area only right…?
AutoDriver: No madam, we are this area autodrivers… Have to come back all the way…
( Too much!!!!!!!!)
3. Even a small news item in the newspaper about a 'possible' oil price rise in Saudi, could result
in he demanding atleast 5 bucks more per kilometer, and even if you try to argue a little, your
day will be made miserable with his groanings and complaints…
4. In bangalore, the auto meters are set to run at 1.5 rate before 7:30 am and after 9:00 pm… If you happen to get into the auto at 8:45 pm for a half hour ride, then the driver will demand that you pay 1.5 times the rate as by the time you reach the destination, the time would cross 9 o clock!!
After so much of argument, you get into the auto, and after 2 minutes, you wonder as to whether the autowala had put the meter after you got in.. Or it was already running… anyways for the first few minutes you will see that it will show a standard "10 rupees" only… so one cant differentiate… Mental tension all the way...
5. Travelling that last mile…
Not actually a mile :), but the last 100-200m ...
The worst part of the journey, I would say… Obviously we don’t tell the autowalas everything from the door number of our house, to take us there… Suppose we say "17th main" and your house happens to be in the middle or end of 17th main, you are done!! From the time he sees the board reading '17th main' till he takes you to your house, he will ensure that he drives at a mere 2 kmph and keeps cribbing that you are exploiting him and making him cover more distance than what he had expected… You have to console him everytime, and say that we are almost there.. we are almost there....
Pheww!! All this for you paying your hard earned money…. But whatever... they've become our lifeline.. :)
17 comments:
very true! experience, huh ? ;)
ur 3rd and 5th point are extremely true. most of the times i learn about oil prices and the country's economy from our beloved chennai autowallahs (those guys will give u a 5 min news summary of the last month, makes me wonder often why these guys dun go for BQC or mastermind :):D)
and the 5th one. most of the time if i mention nandanam extension the autowallah starts cribbin from mount road itself, and am mostly caught in trepidation that i get down 2 streets ahead of my house. aargh x-( x-(
venkat
chennai autos r a rip off, starting fare is at rs 20, even half\1\2 kms,
which is why i avoid the auto and always take bike, otherwise if the location is close by nataraja service
I am a *strong* supporter of the chennai auto drivers.. and more so after my miserable experiences with their bangalore counterparts... Till I came here, i had only heard of "meterukku mela 5, 10"... inga vandhu thaan 1.5 meter, double meter madiri terminology ellam therinjudhu...
and tell me about the post 9 p.m crap... this goddamn city is up and awake till well past midnight... pub-la koothadikkaradhukku no time limit... but only for the auto fellahs, 9p.m is "late night"!!! buggars!
I firmly believe, the probability of finding a reasonable auto wala in Chennai is far far more than in Bangalore... they suck big time!
somehow i don agree with nithya....reach chennai central in mroning n comapre it with reaching bangalore station in morning....u will know
---monsh
p.s : madam , u wrote this blog between 9pm - 7.30 am ? ;-)
@ anand ms
yeah! :)
@ venkat
your experience of getting down 2 streets ahead- hilarious! infact, even i have done it 1-2 times :D
@vatsan
flat rate nu konnuduvaanga
@nithya
seriously! 9 o clock b'lore la late nu solradhellam too much!!
@monsh
thats not my office timings, monsh..
btw, will htey pay us 1.5 times our salary if we wokr after 9? :D
Dont have much experience travelling in autos, but have heard loads of stories about them.
I however think that these guys are the same everywhere, be it Bangalore or Chennai or even Delhi...
hey, Nice blog yaar... and you write very very well..nice TP to read your blogs on a boring day...
Excellent piece of narration. I really liked reading this, as i daily face this. I am Afraid of taking an auto early morning as i don't want to end up arguing early morning.
Keep posting such experiences!!
nice blog!
I never knew B'lore is also like chennai. Coz wherever i went during my visit, i paid the meter fare...After reading this, i think lotsa chennai autowalas moved to B'lore :-p
...and u forgot one thing the "Heating Element" which shows you 20 bucks per km :))
Having tried to catch an auto after 11 in the nite ?
U poor bangaloreans consider the autos to be ur lifelines while maram err.. dharam singh keeps taking u for a ride about the metro rail.
whatever said and done...bangalore autos are far far better...i never have been asked for 70Rs for a 10 minute ride..:O...huh
whatever said and done...bangalore autos are far far better...i never have been asked for 70Rs for a 10 minute ride..:O...huh
@gautam,
:) i know u dont go anywhere without your sweetie cab.. ;)
@ram, @adabala
thanks ram and shankar! :)
@rd
thanks rd.. but the weather in blore is cold and unfortunately for htem hte 'heating element' doesnt work.. ;)
@jagan
yeah! done it dude...
@sheks
it takes 2 years for them to construct a flyover! then imagine.. metro rail is for the next generation! ;)
@anon..
I wud agree... they are a shade better than their chennai counterparts in rates! :)
'Travelling that last mile' is perfecto. I die by the time I make the guy reach my home, which happens to be in the fag end of the street... After travelling a whole 10kms, the bloody dogs complain to travel the last half a km! Pathetic!
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