A Menace called Rickshaw drivers !

Today I want to focus and concentrate on something that has annoyed me since a long time and the state of affairs just seem to be getting worse. Its been a really long time since autorickshaws have been plying on Mumbai streets. Years ago I clearly remember never having a problem with getting a rickshaw for commute from one destination to another. The rickshaw drivers were courteous and cooperative. I cannot clearly recall when and how things changed and why! But currently it has deteriorated to such an extent that it can be tolerated no more purely because there can be no justification to the behaviour and demands of these drivers.

Firstly they callously refuse to take you from one place to another, which if someone could just remind them is precisely what they and their vehicles are meant for. Earlier, they had issues about going from east to west or vice versa. Now they even have issues taking you within the east or the west. For those who know Mumbai and the suburban areas well, would understand the following. There are times I have tried to hail a rick from SV road santacruz to say SV road khar or bandra, just one straight road, and they have refused. Sometimes I actually feel like asking them if they would rather fly somewhere because they seem to have issues going anywhere and everywhere. Then there are those that will tell you that they will take you to a certain point and not beyond or into a particular area. And the tone is more like they are doing you some favour, though its on their terms and conditions. At such times, firstly people should ideally tell them to buzz off or if desperate to get somewhere just say 'Ok I will pay you less than what the meter reads cos you are not taking me where I want to go'! Then another norm these days seems to be them not having/ wanting to return change back to you. An easy way for them is just to say that they dont have it. Breaking signals is their right and they do it all the time ,even in stark daylight , which not to mention adds to the ever increasing traffic and creates more of a commotion. Thanks to all this our city just seems to be getting more and more uncivilised by the day and chaos seems to be the order of the day. Another aspect that almost always baffles me is that you may be going from point X to point Y almost daily ie the same route and the same place and the meter reading almost is different everytime. Once in a while you can blame it on the traffic or some other factor but not every single time. Its like say you have to go to a place which you know will be a minimum fare of Rs 11, given the distance, but in my experience and that of many others I knwo, it ranges from 11 to 15 or even more sometimes. If that is not a case in point of meter tampering then what is !!!

Then are the days of some problems that the city faces in the form of heavy rains or some other such aspects and again these very asses have the gall to ask for more fare and not go by the meter. Some heart and some audacity! I clearly remember that even on days of the train blasts some rickshaw drivers asked for more fare to transport people. These are days when they should have ideally gone out of their way to cooperate with the irate and vulnerable public and help tehm out in whichever way they could. But instead they added to their woes and stress by acting like totally irresponsible heartless human beings!

According to me, by far, the worst that they have done and continue to do is when they turn down old, invalid people. That is downright inhuman and unacceptable. I have heard of people complaining that they literally plead with them to take them where they need to go especially if its an emergency situation and someone needs to get to a doctor or a hospital, and they still refuse to cooperate. Its so disheartening to see an old person standing on the road and trying hard to hail a rick with no luck and most ricks just saying NO and going off like they have something better to do than their very own job. At such times I often wish we were empowered with certain rights as citizens to take strong action against such offenders or complain to an authority, which for once will handle this sort of stuff efficiently.

Most times we as women might just feel why take panga with such people as you never know what kind of an idiot you are dealing with and what if you get into trouble etc. We read incidents in the newspapers where these guys get violent. In the recent past an old man lost his life because he got into an arguement/ fight with one such character and then a gang of other drivers joined him to harass and beat up the old man who was eventually hurt on his head and lost his live eventually! These incidences do give you perspective and you wonder if its worth getting into any kind of interaction or dialogue with these people. To add to that we also have a conditioning that goes,' ke aise logon ke mooh nahi lagte' . The whole point is lagna bhi kaun chahta hai but how much nonsense can one tolerate! How long are we going to be held ransom to their whims and fancies. Today they have the guts to go on strike because they are being made answerable for their own follies. What kind of warped logic is that! In normal situations anyone not doing their job 'well' is also pulled up. Here, let alone "well", they are refusing to even do the very job they chose to do and they are allowed to get away with it, just because their union is handled by someone with the right connections and enough clout.

I think as citizens it might be a good start to give them a befitting reply by boycotting rickshaws for a day or like a weekend as the latter will not inconvenience people given that there is no pressure of reaching their work place etc! Maybe then, whether or not it makes a difference to them monetarily, atleast as citizens we are sending out a loud and clear message that their blackmail and bull shit will not be tolerated. If you are here to do a job just shut up and do it. As it is we deal with their fuss almost on a daily basis apart from dealing with ever increasing and tampered with fares. And the least we deserve is that our commute should be peaceful and problem free in the otherwise chaotic city that we live in!