Glassed walls of constriction; yet of comfort, and Sisyphean freedom. Vallisneria and strands of new born Java Fern muddles the few daring rays which made entries into the cloudly water. The little fish look at each other, crib, and gasp bubbles of discontentment. The Goldfish is showing off too much gold. The Black Molly is darkening up the place. The Swordtail Tetra’s comments are too sharp. The Siamese fighter eats too much. Encapsulated in their little glass pond, they breathed big bubbles against the walls. The world looks big and weird with the concavity.
That frog there.. Is that really a frog? Or is that a toad? Is it here to eat us up? Is she here to lay eggs? Yup, tadpoles for us to eat! Its a she? Horrible taste in skin, she should appeal for a better one…
And thus the fishes kept theorising life, the frog, and other miscellaneous things.
Fishpond.
*
Ladies, gentlemen, please welcome Meter Jam. A honest attempt by honest folk to give a dose of ‘their own medicine’ to dishonest autorikshaw drivers in a few major cities in India.
Meter Jam
So whats it all about? Autorikshaw drivers are known for being notorious in cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, and Mumbai. Some won’t stop for you. Some will insult you. Some charge you extra. Some have tampered-with fare metres. Some adjust their rear-view mirrors to check out your breasts. These some hate you. They detest you. Just like you hate them. And Meter Jam is about giving them a ‘dose of their own medicine’ by refusing them, today, on the 12th of August, 2010.
But did you know that you are the result of these some being the way they are? Oh yes. You. You, me, all of us. I say you because this conversation is happening inside your head. There is no me, only you. Did you ever stop to think why they are the way they are?
Stung by poverty and hate, ignored and belittled in their own land, faced with stark economic opposition from the new big clan of people who live in an imaginary world earning ten or twenty times more than them, with nothing to aspire for, with the harsh antagonists of horrible traffic, irate drivers, and corrupt policemen per diem, they lead lifes filled with problems, real problems, those which cannot be solved by fancy, multi-node algorithms.
And you, dear sir, ma’am, made them the way they are today, by refusing to smile or acknowledge their humanness as they struggle to cope with life and death. You did it, by treating them as machines, as part of the autos they drive, as a system. They were not. You made them that way.
Each time you haughtily climb into an auto and flip out your mobile, each time you treat that driver with scorn, each time you battle with the driver for five units of currency, each time you scream at them, you make them more that way. Each time you oppose them, you create their new existence as a dumb system. Like a soft-drink vending machine.
Did you ever try talking to that driver? Ever asked him* if he had a wife and children? What his children did? If he had lunch? If he wanted a toffee? If he liked A R Rahman? If he could read? Of his opinion on the nuclear liability bill? About life insurance?
You bust forty five rupees on a cappuccino in Barista, and a hundred and twenty two on a burger and french fries in McD. And you quarrel for five bucks from the auto-driver. Five bucks which is one of two hundred and twenty five billionth of McD’s yearly revenue#. Five bucks which could buy rice for the auto-driver’s family today.
Also remember that their being poor is a result of your being rich.
Agreed that its horrible to travel by autorikshaws today. But does our solution lie in hating them, and oppressing them, in denying them? Or does it lie in trying to understand them, empathising with them, and in love? Can we engage them in love? Can we give them a smile each time? Can we talk to them about family and news? Can we see them as humans? Can we see ‘them’ as ‘us’?
Of course, this will not give us an immediate change. Not all auto-drivers will smile back. Not all will be ready to accept you. But some will. Some whose human lies beneath layers of conditioned systemisation, waiting to be uncaged as though a butterfly from a spider’s net. And some will start talking to you about corruption, about God, about being Christian, about Rajnikanth, about the importance of life insurance, about life, classical music, love, Marxism, the rain… Can we remember those some, and keep smiling, so that we might have a change by the time we transcend?
Can we break that fishpond?
Autojam?
–
* – based on the assumption, and probable fact that there are no women auto drivers.
[edit: I was wrong about the women auto drivers... Apparently, there are women auto drivers in Chennai. Thanks wise donkey!]
# – from Yahoo! Finance <http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=MCD>
- Meter Jam
Appreciate this view amidst the sea of support. I strongly believe it is the wealth disparity that is driving auto drivers to view is, the middle-class + rich as oppressors. The same thing with cops too – how well are they paid to toil in sun and rain in India? Does that pay evoke any pride in them? Also, we do not question a Rs. 120 cappuccino at a swank coffee bar and don’t even think twice before plonking that amount, but crib with auto drivers over fare and meter.
I agree that meters are there to make the fare calculation balanced and equal but we’re a country of ‘kitna deti hai’ as epitomized by Maruti…we’re only bothered about mileage and savings in our own vehicles and not from a group that makes its living out of it.
One day of meterjam or even once a week or month may not help in any meaningful way since we need autos more than they need us…harsh truth. And, there will always be people who will continue to patronize them regardless of rudeness or meter tampering.
KarthikQuote
*there are women auto drivers in chennai.
i don’t know about the present scenario but i wouldn’t equate the chennai drivers with the mumbai drivers. mumbai are more honest.
on the humanity part
i address the elders as sir and never forget to say thanks, just habit and talk depending on the situation. (last thing i need is him to think i am flirting with him). and mostly i do ask if they send their kids to school. and in chennai atleast, mostly the answer is yes. and we talk about which petrol pumps give value for money and which cheat the most. sometimes i talk about insurance and myself.
i don’t talk movies or toffee or nuclear liability or politics or religion. because i want him concentrating on the road and not get too passionate. (hey thats for his safety too). btw another way to get them on your side is to talk about the jay walkers and how difficult it would have been if the jay walker had come across a truck or bus.
but i don’t pay them more than what i think is reasonable. anyway what i think is reasonable is any far above, the legal rate, in chennai. anyway, however suprising it might sound, they can emphatise with my budget, if i explain why i won’t pay them the extra 10 bucks. and more than 80% of the drivers i have met are ok. only few have been very mean.
i wish people, including the drivers understood, that everyone who travels by auto is not rich.
public transport doesn’t go everywhere, and for the senior citizens or the differently abled, auto is a choice. and there is a difference between an one time trip and a regular trip.
if i paid an extra 5 for a particular place everyday back and forth, that commes to 600 and not everyone eats pizza for the 600.
and ridiculous as it may sound, when the govt has fixed a fare, i don’t see why i have to inflate it a lot. even if i eat pizza for 600, doesn’t mean my neighbour can afford that 600. and its wrong of me to inflate the rate for my convenience. (in chennai its impossible to travel at the meter rate, so well, i go for my reasonable rate which means negotiating with 4-5 autos or simply being smart enough to stand in the direction you want to travel to catch the driver who wants to travel in that direction. travel with the driver’s flow.
i think meterjam is stupid, its not going to solve problems.
and the drivers can earn what they have lost today, tommorrow.
basically the drivers pay the owners a fixed amount and have to bear the cost of petrol and take home the profit. the owners mostly are either police or politicians (chennai) thats why the rate is high and they get away with it.
if we wanted to minimize poverty,one can help the auto drivers become owners by helping them with financing schemes which will benefit them.
lets not demonise auto drivers and start meterjams
lets not also ignore ridiculous their fare is sometimes. there is a big difference between need and greed. i don’t know if the writer has traveled in chennai by auto. travel in them for a year, and lets see if you have the same attitude.
lets just treat the drivers as humans
wise donkeyQuote
“ Did you ever try talking to that driver? Ever asked him* if he had a wife and children? What his children did? If he had lunch? If he wanted a toffee? If he liked A R Rahman? If he could read? Of his opinion on the nuclear liability bill? About life insurance? “
Strongly disagree. You know the guy who threw my 1 rupee on the road? I had discussed my breakfast with him, and that I was going to church. I have asked them about their kids, discussed politics, religion, regionalism with them. They still treat me ‘inhumanly’.
Their poverty is not an excuse to be discourteous. Where is the connection?
And I have met auto drivers who have alternate occupations, and drive autos for FUN. Not because they need the cash hard.
Ive done that Mo
. Ive romantically engaged them in love. And they couldnt care less.
So what is wrong with this urban evolution of resistance?
Mickey SugarlessQuote
@Karthik thank you! However, I do think that policemen get a decent salary. Of course, not compared to IT employees, but thats a different tale.
However, my point is more than wealth disparity Karthik. Wealth disparity will always be there. Its more like the treatment they receive, or have been receiving. The cold machinised treatment, along with all the other factors like wealth disparity, which make them the way they are.
And I guess in a situation like they are in, they have to be, in a way, rude to survive and get some money to buy food at the end of the day. Only a strong sense of humanity will keep away that rudeness. And we are the reason for their lack of humanity…
@wise donkey, thanks for the info! Didn’t know about the women auto drivers part.. I completely agree with you. Lets treat them humans. I do not deny their corruptness, I do not deny some of their momentary greed. But I’m saying we share responsibility in making them that way, and lets just treat them as humans! The damage can still be undone, though it might take a lot of effort and experience.
Completely agree when you say that we must do something productive if we want to change the situation. Not crib. We can have a strike against the government, because clearly, they’re getting the better of us. But thats not the case with auto-drivers…
Oh I haven’t lived in Chennai, but been in Bangalore for a while now. I think its experience enough, and I’m sure my fellow Bengulureans will agree…
@Mickey Sugarless
First, when I ask those questions, I do not literally mean them. All I mean to do is make people think if they’ve treated auto bhaiyyas as humans, and tried talking to them. But we should also be sensible. We don’t have to go out of our way to talk to them, but try trusting them to be friendly humans. Of course your trust will be betrayed very often. But thats the way it is… Try try try and we’ll get there, one day, we’ll all be included…
Second, practical advice (which I don’t think I need to give, but still) wouldn’t be a bright idea to start off talking about gay rights. Like ‘wise donkey’ says, start off with something on the road, something neutral, and then if the conversation picks up, keep at it.
Keep engaging in love, dear MS! Your love might be shunned ten times, but the eleventh time, you would have changed a life.
This urban evolution of resistance will only make things worse. It’ll create more enmity between auto drivers and auto riders. A higher sense of the other will come to exist, along with a sense of vengeance. More systems will be incorporated, leading to more corruption, leading to more anger and problems. Why? Why all this?
Agent MQuote
Mohan, I hope that I-don’t-surf-any more statement of yours was just a phase! Ur social conviction, clarity of thought and flair for writing align to make incisive sense. Do blog.
padmakumarQuote
Thank you Mr PK, I’m honoured!
And no, that was/is not a phase
Its here to stay..
Agent MQuote