Monday, May 4, 2009

Auto drivers drive Bangalore...

Namma in Kannada is My in English. It has been 9 months for me in Bangalore and still I'm searching hard for a reason to add 'My' before it. Leave apart the awesome pub culture, the city has nothing much to offer. It comes packed with it's traffic jams, alien language, extremely expensive life style and on the top of that menacing auto drivers, with whom I have special enmity. These species, I don't want to call them human in order to maintain the sanctity of our race, remind me of the Tasmanian Devil from Looney Toons, always hungry and with sub-normal intelligence. They repel logic of all kinds and always take advantage of your situation. Be it 11 PM at night or 6 AM in the morning, you will always find an auto where ever you go, always on a look out for vicitims like us. And once you are betrayed by the BMTC bus, you are at their mercy. No amount of money is unreasonable for them. With the mindset that Bangalore youth like a golden goose, they can ask for above Rs. 250 for a mere 15-20 KM. Compare this with Delhi, an auto driver there would never dream of charging above 150. It's as if their tongue stammers while asking for a big amount. And then Bangalore auto drivers are cushioned by their union. United they stand to rob you off your savings. But looking at the flip side, it's not completely their fault. It's the bangalore youth which has filled them with confidence. People willing to pay any amount, are like a cake with icing on top. Also, they have not adopted CNG which could have really plummeted the fuel costs, like in Delhi.  But I really hope there is a regulatory body which catches these auto drivers red handed and teaches them a lesson. 

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