The ricksha walas of Mumbai nagariya

"Autooooo", I scream each time I need one and then realise that it is referred to as "Ricksha" here.

I have to confess that I have never had a better experience of commuting by auto/ricksha or auto rickshaw (as you would like to call it) in any other city. And I know for a fact that the local residents here would never understand what that means because after having spent just about three months here, I already feel so used to it that I have forgotten how horrible the commuting experience in auto has been for me or can be for anyone else in other cities.

When I say cities, it may be important to mention that I have lived in quite a few cities already- Jaipur, Delhi, Bangalore and now in Mumbai. Besides, I have also travelled to a few cities but I would prefer not taking into account those experiences because I haven't lived long enough in these cities to figure out how the autos operate there. My experience (good or bad) in these cities may not necessarily be the general trend as such.

However, out of all the cities that I have lived in so far, Mumbai is the only city that has pleasantly surprised me with its ricksha walas. At first it felt almost unbelievable to see ricksha walas turn the meter down on their own as soon as you got in because I was so used to being extorted and being taken on a ride by their brethren in other cities. By the way as most of us would have noticed already, it is not that the autos in other cities don't have meters, its just that their masters don't believe in turning them down and the role of meter has only been restricted to avoid paying fines if caught by the officials (which is rare in our country) for not operating in the prescribed manner.

So how do they really function? Well, by quoting random fares and hey believe me the trend of quoting random fares in other cities is as normal as it is in Mumbai for riksha walas to turn the meter down. And I am saying this because I have commuted like this for years. Ask why!- because there is no concept of turning the meter down! And on days, when you are really (read REEEEEALY) lucky or rather you think you are lucky and you end up getting into an auto which does not just have a meter but an operational meter, you will hear something to this effect from its master as soon as you have placed your self in it - "20 Rs. extra!" After these exact words, you dare not ask the master "why" because you will either be asked to get down the auto or you will end up causing yourself a headache from the most ridiculous of explanations that they have to offer to answer that specific question.

On the contrary in this city (Mumbai), the riksha walas take you strictly by the meter, so much so that they return even 1 rupee change on their own. Only people who have lived in other cities (specifically in Bangalore and Delhi) would know how unbelievably amazing it feels to be paying by the meter. It still amuses me each time I get into an auto here without having to think, negotiate or bargain and I guess by now it is evident that I am not over this fantastic trend that the ricksha walas of Mumbai nagariya have set for their city.