Thursday, July 13, 2006

auto blog

today i waited in the rain hoping to find an auto, for twenty dreadful minutes. 7 pm. the drizzle is worse than when it comes down hard. its all prickley and irritating. and ONLY about 3287463 autos drove past me. empty, looking out at all us sad miserably drenched people, and NOT giving us a ride back home. each one sticking his head out of his auto and scanning me to test if im worthy enough to be given a ride..no matter that the auto is empty and he's headed in the same direction i want to go, and it is raining and sometimes it is nice to be helpful.

twenty minutes passed, after which i decided i was wet enough to walk home. so i began walking. which is no fun in baggy jeans and 7 year old floaters. it was like not wearing shoes at all, and having buckets of water tied to my feet. not pretty. im really beginning to despise this city, the roads, the traffic and THE AUTOS. they cost more than cabs in bombay do, and they never want to go where you want to, and they're always looking to rip you off. like they're some luxury mode of transport we've been blessed with.

so iv walked a good distance, and im cursing everything and everyone in sight. when this lone dhinchak auto drives by. i say 'malleswaram?' and he says 'ok. 30 bucks?'. now the normal fair from work to home is about 17-19 bucks, and having walked almost half the way myself i didnt see why i needed to spend 30 bucks on the other half. but it was raining pretty bad by then, so i didnt waste time bargaining. i agreed. i repeat: i HATE autos. they're utterly useless and yet im such an auto-slave.

so we get home finally, after nearly killing a few two-wheeler riders, who came to a screeching skidding halt inches away from my disco-on-3-wheels, since he seemed to think he was auto raja..and was really pushing it. at home i had him a 50 rupee note, cusing him under my breath and squinting to see him in glow of the neon tubelight inside the auto. then somes the classic 'change illa maaaa'..so yay, there i was still quite rained out, standing around wondering what to do next. he wasnt moving his butt, so i agreed to go get him change from home. i get to the elevator and someone has forgottn to shut the door somewhere. the next thing you know, im springting up the stairs in jeans that are now stuck to my legs, which isnt making it any easier. get him his change. downstairs as i hand him exactly 3, 10 rupee notes, he looks at me and says 'wow so you did come back today, i was beginning to wonder' ...the creep!

im going to say a sincere prayer today that the day must come soon, when autos will have to roam the city begging for people to ride with them, and go where they want to go..and people like me will look in glee and say fuck off.

7 comments:

Manu said...

they suck as transport yes, but where else do you get to see 'dont kiss me' stickers, on objects that not even the most adventurous fetishist would want to kiss?

Revati Upadhya said...

yesterday i saw 'cealo 2000' and 'QUALIS' on another. thats still no reason to act smart.

Manu said...

also, there will be a surplus of old blank cds if autos die out

Quietly Amused said...

autos are the single largest source of entertainment, remind me to tell you ghastly stories involving a)an empty bottle of brake fluid and b)camel biryani. But on a lighter note this should be worth perusal.
http://arart.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

muhahahahahaha is all ican say da!!!!bombay autos rullllleee!!!!
ok da cant help it but smirking all about theautos...u know my sentiments bout blore autos...anyway tried calling u and mental today but just couldnt get thru but got thru to mama!!!hope all well!!!

Asavari said...

hahahaa... i cant stop laughing... but seriously they suck big time... i hate how they say no to u, whatever happened to treating your "potential" customer well?...

ahh well am here in delhi where there r wierdos on the streets all the time and u feel sick to look anywhere cause u find a lewd pair of eyes staring at u...
i wud take the bitchy auto's anyday...

ahhh but the sacrifices have to be made... lol...

Mr. D said...

maybe you can wait for the metro to become reality...