Take me for a ride, please

After I had spent every morning of a particular week, cursing and fuming, it was time to make a life changing decision. I stopped driving to work! Driving around Bangalore with its errant rickshaw drivers, callous scooter riders, bulldozing buses and suicidal pedestrians, proved too stressful for me. I threw in the towel and decided to make my contributions to the errant rickshaw drivers’ fund.

That was around 2 years ago. Since then I have realized that not many of the rickshaw drivers are interested in my money and when they are it is mostly when I don’t want to give it. Everyday, I ask at least 15 rickshaw drivers if they will take me to my destination. From a shrug, a disgusted face to a downright snub, I have faced it all. Sometimes I wonder if I live & work in the back of the beyond. The truth however, is that I work in the heart of the city and live just 6 km from my workplace. Or maybe that’s the reason nobody wants to ferry me, they probably want to go to the back of the beyond. When some of these great souls do consent to go where I want to go, they either ask for 50% more than the actual fare or they never return my change.

Though to be fair, I have to mention that I have met a couple of really nice drivers, most of them in their 50s. And yes, when I say a couple I really mean only a couple of them in the 2 years plus of traveling by rickshaws. Just the other day this driver was telling me that ever since the auto fares have increased, customers have stopped thanking him. So once in while I do get a reality check that these guys are human too but fortunately it doesn’t last for too long. I am back to cursing them for not giving me a ride soon enough!