I travel regularly throughout Delhi.
The total travelling time for me in a day ranges from 4-5 hours ON AN AVERAGE, depending upon where I am going. NO EXAGGERATION!
And a huge part of this travel includes dealing with autowalas. They have become an interesting specie in their own right. There is a certain behavioural pattern they follow, vary according to geographics (almost every destination has its own rules – like Gurgaon autowalas do not consider the meters more than a show piece), have a set rate scale that begins after your original fare ends and love to play hard to get saying, “Madam wahan nahi jaunga, wahan se sawari nahi milti.”
With the advent of cab services like Ola and Uber, the situation of autowalas is pretty precarious. Commuters tend to prefer cab services at times to avoid the nakhras of the autowalas and get a smooth ride. Moreover with the Ola Share and Uber Pool options, even the rates are pretty much the same as autos.
Protesting against cab services is all on one hand, but there are seriously some things autowalas need to change to cope with the growing competition. Here is a list of such tings!
1) STOP REJECTING US!
It feels worse than being forever alone when you are rejected by 10 auto walas in a row! It is exactly here that the cab services score.
2) STOP TELLING US THAT THE METER DOESN’T WORK
“Madam, meter kharab hai” or blatantly refusing to go by the meter annoys the commuter to the core who has been standing in the heat already rejected by tons of other autos. You will not get the whimsical rate you demand otherwise, that’s it!
3) PLEASE BE KIND TO OUR BODY’S ANATOMY
The times when they take the most adventurous routes holding the Guinness Records for the most number of potholes. The anatomy of our body changes by the time we reach our destination.
4) ONE U-TURN DOES NOT MEAN DOUBLE THE DISTANCE
Charging 10-20 bucks extra can still be understood. But what makes you double your charges the moment you visualize a U-turn? A U-turn is to an autowala what a sensible movie is to Salman Khan. If it exceeds your comfort zone, charge double!
5) SUDDENLY REMEMBERING TO GET YOUR CNG REFILLED
That too at the worst time possible! Only when you are getting horribly late for some urgent work do they get reminded of the basic requirement for their vehicle! Why Bhaiya? Why you do this?
6) “MADAM CHANGE NAHI HAI”
This one is the icing on top of the cake. Finally after being soaked up in the heat waiting for the autowalas, then finally getting one after being the most rejected person after Harman Baweja, then getting your soul shaken up (quite literally) by the potholes and speed breakers, when we finally reach the destination, one has to stay another 15 minutes asking for change from every other paanwala or passer by possible.
If these few things, which amount to major tantrums sometimes, get sorted, I am still all up for choosing autos over cabs and even ready to listen to all sad songs of the 90s that you play in the autos that display your love for Udit Narayan and Kumar Shanu.
*Tum hi… Hamari… Ho Manzil My Louveee….*
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