I'll tell you the difference between Bangalore and Mumbai.
Get into a rundown auto in Bangalore. Oh wait, the auto guy won't let you get in his rundown auto. He won't tell you why either. He'll tell you he's going in a different direction and continue to proceed in the same direction you need to go. About seven autos later, some auto guy will agree to take you. But, in the bright daylight, he insists on a one-and-a-half rate. You are bewildered. It is noon. You flag down your nth auto. This guy agrees provided you gift him another ten rupees. You are late so you agree. It does not matter how fast you need to go, the auto guy will drive at his own pace.
You might reach your destination.
Mumbai. It is 0740 hours. You are in Mahim and late for your 0845 flight. The first cab you wave at comes to a prompt halt. You hop in. 'Boss, airport. Kitna time lagega?' you ask with a look of worry.
He turns around with a swagger characteristic of a seasoned Mumbai cabbie and asks nonchalantly, 'Kitna jaldi jaana hai?'
11 comments:
I want to line up all auto drivers from Bangalore and Hyd and set up a stationary gun with many bullets and shoot them all in the foot!
I cannot even begin to explain my vengeance for them!! One of the many reasons I heart Mumbai :D
Amu,
Done deal. Next time you're here? :)
In Chennai, they will get onto one butt cheek lazily, scratch some unmentionable area and ask if you can pay 4 times the rate...they will then proceed to weave through traffic, increasing the intensity with which they roll from one butt cheek to another (it has some strange relation with the accelerator) and deliver you to some other destination...and proceed to extract the money while mumbling how you didn't know the address and you deserve your fate!!
J,
I think I'll settle for a ride in the WagonR after all! :P
Ha ha, I've slapped an auto driver or two during my years in Bangalore.
And as far as Mumbai is concerned: The cab drivers are an empathetic lot. After all, someone's gotta make up for the more affluent locals eh?
Haha, good observation! :)
You know, its been a while since I was here.. I thought you stopped posting. (I know I have, sigh).
I love those Bombay cabbies, always tip them when I'm running late and they get me on time.
Of course the last time I flew out of Bombay, the cabbie got me in twenty minutes early, the flight took an extra hour to board, and then just hung out on the runway for another hour. Also taxied on the Delhi runway for forty-odd minutes. 5:50-7:50PM Indigo (yes, Indigo was late, the horror!) flight and I got out of the airport with my suitcase and all at 11:30.
You need to inform us that you're back to bloggie-woggie and whatnot. I still had your old blog in my blogroll.
And now I'm wondering how Delhi fits in when talking about autos.
True. I think everybody in Bombay understands that the two scarcest things in the city are space and time - so we empathize with those with an extra shortage of either.
Nice blog, by the way.
I've had my nose broken by a drunk auto guy in Bangalore - 3 days before my car was delivered (3 months before I left Bangalore).
J, for the Delhi perspective, it's just marginally better. They don't drink and drive here. They all have meters which have (and will) never be used. They will demand the standard taxi rates in the day time and multiply that by 2 at night if they think you know the city. If they think you're from out of town then it's cheaper, easier and faster to book a radio cab and wait for it to arrive.
Hey, but to Bangalore's credit, in the roughly two years I was taking autos there, I did find two drivers who took me where I wanted to go and went by the meter without question or fuss.
Try getting into an auto in chennai, they'll charge you a limb or a kidney to drop you in the next neighbourhood. LOL.
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