Rewind to say, 1997...
There are these 2 guys standing in the bus stop, and they've been standing there for the last 45 minutes. Frustration has crept in and they restlessly keep looking at their watches n the road alternatively, desperate for some kind of action. There is no cell phone, no free sms to keep these guys occupied. They glance at each other and then turn away thinking to themselves "Great! Even if a freakin bus comes, the whole stop is gonna get in"...then they continue getting frustrated...
Then like an oasis in a desert, a small yellow three wheeler chugs along the dusty road. One of the guys looks skeptically at the "auto" which is manually driven (ok, that was a bad one!) and considers fledding the boring bus stop but then shrugs the thought away..."Its just too expensive on a daily basis, I took one even day before"...
The second guy has the same thoughts running through his mind. The auto driver halts at the stop hoping for some temptation to set in. He looks longingly into the first guy's eyes (now don't let ur imagination run wild, he just wants some savari yaar) and then in the second guy's direction. 4 minutes pass by and our men are still contemplating. Then suddenly, as though telepathic, both of them shout out to the auto "Thiruvanmiyur"... the auto driver nods ecstatically and the 2 guys look at each other with surprise. Now luckily for us, 1 of them was smart enough to say "Hey, you need to go to the same place? Shall we share the auto fare?" Guy 2 is thrilled by the idea and they both jump in feeling radiant about having saved some money...
The auto driver is not as thrilled. While driving, he replays the entire sequence of events and starts scheming a business plan. "I came from Mount Road to Mandaveli with noone in my auto. Then these 2 guys engaged the auto till Thiruvanmiyur. Now I need to get back to T.Nagar to go home. God knows if I will get any savari from Thiruvanmiyur or not. Hmmm..." Once he drops the dudes, he scans the bus stop for potential "savari" ... theres this girl who wants to go to Adyar, an elderly man who wants to go to Kotturpuram and a middle aged "mami" who needs to go very closeby. A fast calculation runs in our autowallah's head..."Thiruvanmiyur to T Nagar will cost me atleast 30 bucks (remember its 1997)...instead of taking one of these 3, let me take all of them...what do they get?...a reduced fare...what do I get?...4 Rs from "mami" + 7 Rs from the girl + 11 Rs from the man + say, a minimum of 4 Rs each from atleast 2 other persons who might want to go from somewhere to somewhere on my way back...cool, I'll break even!!!"
He ended up with more than just break even...and no one was complaining...like our mami puts it "The comfort of auto travel clubbed with bus rates...this is simply a boon"
The Share-Auto concept was hence born...and has taken several avatars ever since...
To share or not to share...
I still fondly recall the days when M,J,S n I used to take the bulky 7 seater Chennai share autos in different parts of the city...Chennai operates (or atleast used to operate) on a flat share auto rate...from anywhere to anywhere was usually 5 bucks...used to suit us vagabonds jus fine :)
Hyd of course would truly be the Nawab of all share auto systems...the city is sooo well connected by share autos that they make an independant public transport system all by themselves...of course the pricing is very very arbit...
But don't ever try the concept in B'lore...auto drivers here just don't understand, or maybe in their case, ignorance is bliss huh...have tried to "share" an auto voluntarily with strangers on several occasions and the response from the auto wallah is always irritatingly the SAME "Aapka meter alag hain aur unka alag"... here sharing means double income for the auto driver...
As usual have crapped aplenty :) Would love to hear abt share autos in other cities...so do share stuff here...:)
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There has been share taxi system since a long time in bombay...As far as I know i think its the oldest in India....Autos in bombay are a lil cheap...more or less they are honest guys (given the number of autos trust me the no of ppl who cheat are very less)...no tampering with the meter.. no negotiation..and generally ppl willing to go anywhere...Of course rules are pretty strict in the sense he generally can only have a maximum of three ppl in an auto..For chennai i guess share autos are a real boon..given the overcrowded buses..But the seven seater ones really give ur body thorough massaging experience and by the time ur journey is through u are in elvis presley's words 'all shook up'..i guess the network of share autos is getting stronger by the day..and yeah in hyderabad the network is amazing but all of them are three seaters in which five people adjust and go :)...
yep suds...have heard of the relative "honesty" of mumbaikar autos too...and share autos do cause a lot of "public bonding" literally n figuratively, atleast with ppl like me ;)
Yeah.. Mumbai autos n taxis rock - they are very genuine, completely unlike Chennai. Good post.. I remember the good old days back in HCE when we did that.. Hehe... Now, though I don't think its become more "savvy", people have completely warmed up to the share auto concept except for some safety issues. I remember those days when we used to stand near Adyar bakery and look at this ludicrous huge auto thingie n wonder what it was... Lol.
Forget the share autos for a moment...
Loved the way you brought about the whole piece for introducing a simple thought...Exciting, dramatic, an expected surprise and great expressions...Nice post Kavi..
And regarding the share autos, these guys are good..the only flip thing being, they take AGES to reach the destination especially when they keep looking for 'Savaaris' all thru the journey..for making that always welcome extra buck
:)
The most irritating guys as i used to think them, Now they are part and parcel of my life..I like picking talking with them,We discuss a range of issues fr
om "amma politics","kaala kaadthal","kudumba thakarau" to " ethics".They tend to give lots of ground reality insights from them.
"Public Bonding" irukattun Kavi, but imgaine the fate of your co-travellers! Nee Podra Mokkaila, they will never step into a Share Auto again ever in thier lives :)
If you are travelling in rural parts of Kerala (mostly in the hill tracts of Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Wayanad and Malappuram districts) you would come across something similar to the share auto concept which has been successful for decades together. To get to remote places the only reliable source of transport is the ever-dependable Jeep (also called the "trekker" in local parlance) into which they would stuff in at least a million (ok... discount that by a few thousand) passengers with all kinds of luggage and paraphernalia. there would be moments when the jeep driver almost sits at the edge of the seat and stretches himself to reach the steering wheel. looks dangerous, but is very dependable... and its an experience travelling in these contraptions!
Nice memories jay :)...
Thanks Deepu...n yeah, the "savari hunting" can get very very irritating esp. if ur running late...have "walked out" of share autos on a couple of occasions for the same reason...
Yep Sara, share autos form THE place to gather public opinion n put general mokkai...
And Shakky, I HARDLY open my mouth in these public forums...serious :)
Guruji am gonna hike a trekker ride next time around in Kerala!... hopefully it doesnt turn out to be a back breakin experience!!
hey kavi,
nice to see ur connect with the common man in the past two posts .. im sure the other places are good but i must mention the rides in rajashtan. twenty ppl would share a jeep in int rajsathan. the women and kids seated inside with thier pallus and the men in the turbans hanging all around the jeep. i myself did a one foot travel ..on those jeeps.
def an exp i have cherished
suri
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