Delhi Daredevils : An Update « Talking Talking

Delhi Daredevils : An Update

Jul 6th, 2008 by Rajat in Delhi, Personal, version 1.0

A couple of days ago, I came across a blog post, which told the story of the Auto Wallas of three cities — Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Although it was authentic (i.e., I could identify with the situations, especially the one concerning Delhi), these days I think I’m getting plain lucky!
The Auto Wallas of Delhi are notorious for a variety of things — refusing to go somewhere, not going by meter, lack of courtesy — both for the passengers and traffic rules, and blah blah blah. However, in the last few days I have encountered such autos whose drivers have none of those notorieties. Sounds too good to be true? Well…

* * *

Me : Bhaiya Chaloge?
Driver : Kahan jana hai?
Me : Vasant Kunj.
Driver : Baitho.
[As I entered the auto, he switched on the meter!]

As we reached there, the meter read Rs. 81.45. The driver checked the reading, and said, “Bhai sahab 81 ho gaye.”
I couldn’t believe it! He actually said 81 and not 82!! As a reward, I paid him Rs. 85.

***

Me : Bhaiya chalna hai?
Driver : Kahan jaoge?
Me : Indraprastha. Metro Station.
Driver : Chalenge ji. Baitho.
[This time too, meter was switched on]

At the destination, the fare read Rs. 30.90. He demanded Rs. 31. Cool, I thought. I paid up and left.

***

As I approached a lone auto standing in a corner, the driver stood up and asked, “Kidhar jaoge bhai sahab?”
Me : Mahipalpur. Chaloge?
Driver : Mahipalpur? Aa jao baitho.
[Again, meter switched on.]

In addition to switching on the meter without asking, this one went a step further. He drove peacefully, never — mind you, NEVER switched lanes, dutifully stopped at traffic intersections, did not overspeed, and even slowed down when road ahead was bumpy — so that the ride was as smooth as possible.

***

Three days. Three auto wallas. Three peaceful rides. Was I plain lucky? Or have the Auto Wallas of Delhi transformed for good?

23CommentsDelhi+Daredevils+%3A+An+Update2008-07-06+04%3A32%3A45Rajat

Devr July 13, 2008 at 2:57 PM

hey rajat… well to be frank the auto wallas have not transformed at all, i mean u come accross few of them who actualy go by the rules but 90% dont care. I have to go to my narayana class on weekdays by auto but till now none of them have gone by the meter… they pre-fix the rates and then go.…. we have to actually bargain the price for a ride…

Reply
Rajat July 13, 2008 at 5:22 PM

@Devr :
Personal experiences differ.

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Aakriti July 17, 2008 at 4:50 PM

I think you got plain lucky…!

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nimisha July 28, 2008 at 11:23 AM

they have! for good or not, i don’t know…
maybe because the police has become quite vigilent too..

@devr all it needs is to be firm.. and ask them to take you by the meter.. else, ask a nearby traffic policewallah to help, and 99.9% would oblige with pleasure

Reply
Rajat July 28, 2008 at 10:22 PM

@nimisha :
Police! Yes, I never thought about that. Thanks for pointing it out!
Another reason? Traffic police bribes just got expensive! Ever since the Delhi Traffic Police raised the amount of fines for breaking traffic rules, these traffic policwallahs have also upped their rates. Now, it saves a lot of money to drive safely and charge accurately!
Who says Delhi Police is not efficient !

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