You ‘auto’ know them

You ‘auto’ know them
Deccan Herald

The autorickshaws in Bangalore are a paradox. On the one hand people complain that there are too many autorickshaws running berserk on the roads. Car drivers find them annoying. Two-wheeler riders find them irritating. Pedestrians are afraid of them. The traffic police is constantly at loggerhead with them. In the popular film Antha, Bangalore is referred to as “Rickshapura.”

But are there really too many autorickshaws in the City?

Those who want to hire an auto at certain hours in Bangalore may not agree. T P Kailasam, who was well-known for comic drama in Kannada, has the following scenario in one of his plays, which goes something like this:

Commuter (to auto driver): Will you take me to Jayanagar?

Driver: No.

Commuter: Will you take me at least up to South End Circle?

Driver: No.

Commuter: At least up to Ashoka Pillar?

Driver: No.

Commuter (in despair): Then take me wherever you want to go.

But like the Mafia Godfather you can “make him an offer he can’t refuse.” Tell him you will pay double the fare, and he will ask you to hop in just moments after he has refused to take you.

In the past, experienced auto commuters discovered that the autos with rear engines provided a more comfortable ride than the old model rickshaws with front engines, some of which were known to rattle your bones. The experienced commuter would surreptiously inspect a row of autorickshaws from a distance and hop into one which had a rear engine.

There was an unexpressed animosity between the front engine and rear engine autorickshaw drivers.

These days the experienced auto commuter prefers autos with digital meters.

Incidentally with the growth of technology in the City, the autorickshaws have evolved.

You can find the shiny compact disk on the rear of autorickshaws and when you flash a light it shines. It is an enhancement on the rear lights.

Often you may be in a tearing hurry and leap into the nearest auto, anxiously keeping an eye on the wristwatch, while the auto driver coolly drives into the nearest petrol station for a fill. Auto drivers as a matter of rule, never put more than one or two litres of petrol in their tanks, especially those drivers who drive an auto owned by someone else.

International racing champion Jackie Stewart once said that the best drivers in the world are New York taxi-drivers. So are our automen.

They are good at wending their way among the potholes, through the narrow bylanes and the crowded traffic of Bangalore. It is said that if you stand with your legs apart on the road, they will drive between your legs!

The front side of the auto below the windscreen, invariably bears a name which ranges from their girlfriends to their mother-in-law, gods and goddesses to godfathers and even reel heros.

Late Shankar Nag played a memorable role as an autorickshaw driver in the Kannada film Autoraja. MGR glorified the humble autorickshaw in the films Rickshakaran, so also Rajnikanth in a latter day film. Mohanlal did it with his three-wheel wonder ‘Sundari’ in the film, Hey..auto. All that is in reel life.

All said and damage done, autodrivers are often helpful and resourceful. They will help you catch your early morning train or bus by coming up to your doorstep and wake you up, if necessary, by honking the horn. They are also seen carrying a dozen children to school when all the others are on strike.