Some Auto on Auto Action

Auto Rickshaw drivers across India are notorious for trying to milk their customers, especially at night. And that’s only one of the many other problems.

While I have been used to all the good and bad of the auto riding experience across India, yesterday was extraordinarily special. I boarded an auto from Jaaga, where I had just met a bunch of these people - Social Enterprise Happy Hours on the Lalbagh double road, to Koramangala and he agred to the standard one and a half times meter fare that is the law but not the norm after 10pm. The auto seemed new and well-maintained with a disco light arrangement on the roof of the auto thrown in for special effects. I took off my laptop backpack and umbrella and left it in the back side since 3 of us had already taken up all the sitting space in the auto. The auto stopped on the way to refill gas and that’s when I realized that this auto had a reverse gear as well as a modern fuel system relative to the other autos out there. While this all seemed like trivial information, it helped a lot in what was to happen next.

After a 15 minute smooth ride we reached our destination. We paid the fare with a little tip and the driver asked for feedback on the riding experience. I complemented his skills and the auto since it had been a very smooth night ride. He reversed and left. I walked into the house. That’s when I realized I had forgotten to pick my backpack and umbrella from the auto. So I turned around and ran. I could still see the auto in the distance. The friendly neighborhood street dog thought I was playing catch with him and ran with me jumping and obstructing my run. I ran about 300 meters only to see the auto disappear around a turn. There was no way I could chase him on foot. I saw two autos waiting outside Satya’s bar and restaurant chatting to each other. I approached them and asked if they were willing to chase an auto. One of them jumped in, no questions asked! Moreover he recollected this auto speeding past them. Since it was one of the modern autos with the green paint (Remember green paint = modern fuel gas autos), he knew it wasn’t a regular in this area. He also had observed the auto taking a turn at the junction which supposedly means the auto belongs to a different auto union kind of thing. And so we started the chase.

The auto was not in sight. We reached the next junction which was the Wipro junction. The auto could have gone on either of the 3 routes. A decision was to be made. I suggested we take the right, the auto driver decided to take a left and left we did go. A few autos passed by and the auto driver asked them a few questions to gather intelligence on which direction the other auto might have gone. Filled with intel, he headed straight towards a new micro-brew pub that had opened down the street and there he was, the disco lights revealing his identity. And that’s how I got back my backpack and umbrella. I had no cash left on me and so I asked the helpful auto driver to take me to an ATM where I treated him for his Sherlock Holmes style street smartness and chase.

This was definitely the best auto rickshaw experience I have had in a while. Just a few weeks ago we were blessed by an auto driver, who dropped us at Richmond Circle and spent 10 minutes talking to us about God, Banks and Blessings and ended up offering prayers on us by holding our foreheads. And then there were the other near-death experiences that made up for the lack of roller-coasters in India. But then I had never done a car chase, let alone an auto on auto rickshaw chase.

Later I also discovered that there exists something called the Rickshaw Challenge.

That’s one more reason to believe Bollywood is a reflection of reality.

P.S - All image credits to respective sources