Auto-rickshaws: MTV of Chennai.

Hello people...

     This is my first blogpost and I will start with something  lite. Please do not mind any grammatical error. I will be talking about auto-rickshaws here, particularly the ones that ply on Chennai roads. As to the acronym MTV, its expansion shall be revealed at the end of this post (keeping with the norms of “elements of suspense”). But you may scroll down and check it out anytime (darn the scroll bar!). :P   

     First, let us see the reason behind shortening the name “auto-rickshaw” to just “auto”, particularly in Tamilnadu. In tamil, “attu” means “to shake”. Since auto-rickshaws here are the shakiest vehicles ever to be found on earth, we nickname them “auto” out of sheer love for the vehicle.

Now, there are three types of auto drivers in Chennai.

1.

2. Bad ones.

3. Devilishly evil ones.

Searching for the first option (the good ones)? Well, what is the point in talking about statistically negligible group of people.

    The most unused item in the auto-rickshaws is the electronics meters for calculating the fare. There were times when the driver’s hand went to meter even before touching the clutch. But now the drivers seem to have changed to a more manual approach i.e. bargaining. If you want to bargain with the auto driver, you need to pull yourself to a dominating stance. Start from 50% of the fare that he quotes and slowly increase it to 70%, in a voice that is half-troll and half-banshee. That ought to do the trick.

     The following will be a sample conversation between the driver and the about-to-be-passenger (loosely translated in english).

Driver: Where do you want to go, Sir?

Passenger: Anna nagar.
D: Ok. How much will you give me? 
P: How much do you want?
D: Get in, Sir. 150 Rs.
P: No way, it is after all 6 kms from here. 
D: Sir, petrol prices have gone up. We guys are poor and are struggling to meet our expenses.
P: I don’t want your lame stories. 80 Rs., Is that ok with you?   D: Give me 100. Now, don’t bargain for a petty 20 Rs.

     After this, you will be forced to either pay 100 Rs., or call it quits and reach your destination by a less costlier means (though, not before having your whole family damaged by the auto driver).

     The lives of these auto drivers aren’t great either. They have invested heavily in the vehicle and meet with financial crisis often. These financial problems are broadly categorized into yearly, monthly, daily and hourly. Yearly crisis is usually for the repairing of damaged auto parts and maintenance cost etc. Monthly crisis includes paying rent, bribe to the concerned authorities. Daily crisis includes the petrol drink for the auto and ethanol drink for the driver. Hourly crisis happens rarely and includes more bribes to the traffic policemen and also pan-parag for the driver. In short, these auto drivers are forced to be ROBIN HOODs in unbuttoned khaki uniforms, only that they get a small percentage of the total loot. And  that makes the autos, the (M)oney (T)hieving (V)ehicles of Chennai. 

Orampo - The coolest movie ever to be made on Chennai autos. 

Thank you people for your patience. Do post your comments. Your views are welcome. :)