Sunday, September 2, 2012

Damn the Autowallah!



Thats it! The vilest, most evil and the most god forsaken bunch of people on the face of this earth are the autowallahs! Yep, they are a distinct group- bloodsucking, rash driving, rude talking, bunch of thieves- Thats what they are. And I am not going to apologize for generalizing so brazenly! Be it Delhi, Bangalore, Bhopal or Pune, these autowallahs are there not to serve people but to fleece them! They don't give a damn to sarkari rates and their meter is just another gizmo or another accoutrement in their glitzy vehicle adorned with pics of ex-heroines who are now grandmothers! 

It just keeps happening! You haggle with an autowallah, agree to pay 100 for what you know for sure costs 80 and then when you get down, you haggle again, 'coz either the distance was longer or there was a traffic jam or its suddenly turned dark or the clouds are on the horizon! And don't be deceived when an autowallah agrees to go by the meter, it only means you're screwed! A meter that runs is more dangerous than the dead one! Oh and when you desperately need an auto, the autowallah will bluntly refuse to indulge you, if you insist, he will quote an outrageous price that will make your blood boil! And the worst part is, that in this country of Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, there is noone to raise his voice against the tyranny of these autowallahs. I mean they are all politically-connected. Everytime they want to raise fares for whatever flimsy reason, they just go on a strike and you are left with long queues of people waiting to get to office or home or wherever. The government is only glad to buckle under the pressure- they are an important vote bank now aren't they!

And so there seems to be no end in sight to the tyranny of these autowallahs. Well, lets admit it, those who can afford it, will call those cool cabs and those who can't will travel by state buses. It leaves only those who are sandwiched in between. And since these losers (myself included) definitely don't count, I guess La terreur of autowallahs will continue!

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