That I graduated from riding a bicycle to a car with no two wheeler in between is going to remain a source of discomfiture as long as Bangalore remains my chosen abode.
Every single excursion beyond the walkable limit lightens my wallet drastically.
No no, don't put it on the copious amounts of shopping that us girls are notorious for.
I wisely use my debit/credit card , no point restricting your shopping horizons you see.
Yeah,so the sole reason for the magical unburdening of the wallet therefore is credited to those three wheeled monsters who I have to hail down whenever I have to get moving.
Flagging an autorickshaw (hereafter called Auto) down requires a lot of pre-planning on one's part.Not only must you mention the exact route that the Auto driver is going to take as your intended destination , you must also show the inclination to pay him atleast what the meter shows plus a few more bucks before he even considers to consider your request.
It's quite interesting to see the facial expression of the driver when you dare to cross the line of 'expected-ladylike - behaviour-while-being-robbed.
You tend to be at the receiving end of an extremely contemptous look and sometimes if you are lucky enough , a dismissive chuckle which tells you exactly what the driver wants to convey.
Although I tend to think that everything has its set of exceptions,however small,I had almost given up hope to see any Auto driver with the milk of human kindness flowing through him .
So I was pleasantly surprised when on one instance I was taxied around by a person who not only lectured me on "The various dangers young ladies face in the city" but also what I must do in case I was unfortunate enough to be in a dicey situation myself.
Another time , my wizened with age Auto driver chose to sing old hindi film songs when he realised I could understand and appreciate the nuances of the same.
But such incidents have been so infrequent they can definitely be termed rare.
Meanwhile I am trying to learn a few choice words in the local lingo .
Who knows , they might just be useful on my next 'joy' ride :).
2 comments:
You must thank me for first comment... at least on this page of your blog :)
Nice posts.....
You talk about auto drivers! Let me tell you how good are the black cabs in Britain. The meters here tick faster than your pulse rates! I had the privilege of witnessing this last night, blame it on my laziness or sleepiness. I missed 2 trains from London last night and took the last one which reached my city well past midnight. To my luck I had missed the last bus too and had to catch the so called friendly neighbourhood cabs. As soon as I boarded the cab the meter started running faster than a bullet train, even when we had stopped at a traffic signal!!
If you are running out of cash dont you worry, they do accept credit/debit cards! How much more convenient can it be?
Well, I wont complain about it too much as this guy jumped a few yellow lights and dropped me home earlier than I thought :)
Post a Comment