The Autorickshaw Menace in Bangalore

It looked like it would rain really hard today.. I was happy that finally the monsoon rains had not overlooked Bangalore today but the only problem was I was on my way to a rehearsal in the afternoon and it just had to start drizzling as I stepped out of our apartment.. Anyway I thought I'll just walk to the corner of the road and I can take an auto from there.. Little did I realize (much to my dismay in an afterthought) that getting an auto would be difficult.. Not that there was not an auto in sight - there were many - waiting in the so called 'Autorickshaw stand' but that's all they were doing - WAITING! For whom, why - nobody knows.. that's just how the Autos in Bangalore are... I am amazed as to what they do just standing there and saying no to everyone.. Ask them if they'd come to Jayanagar, they say no.. ask them would they make a longer trip to Koramangala.. they say no.. Then, what do they do? How do they earn their money???? Oh, yes! By rigging the meter and taking only long distance rides... Some of these Auto Fare Metres are atrocious! I travel from J P Nagar to Koramangala almost everyday and there was one time where I traveled for a month everyday (otherwise I'd prefer to ride my Kinetic) and everyday the Metre Fare would range from anything between 45 - 55 Rs... A Difference of 2-3 rupees - I can understand - but 10 Bucks is no reasonable amount of money for anyone... So, I invariably end up fighting with the Autorickshaw drivers everyday and being irritable for the rest of the day.. I'm not even going to touch on the topic of how these guys drive!!!!
The problem with most of these drivers are that they have come from towns and villages around Bangalore - so they think they can get away with driving anyway they want (like they would be driving in their towns) and also think that Bangalore people are rich and they can get away with 'conning' them.
Once in a way, you do find honest Autodrivers who have those electronic metres or even otherwise maintain their Autos well and make it a pleasure for their customers to go along to their destinations - near or far, not withstanding.
Though in my earlier posts I had mentioned my disappointment with the Metro Rail coming to Bangalore and destroying the old Bangalore look - when I see these Auto drivers I hope that the Metro and the Monorail come soon - so that these most arrogant and lazy people in Bangalore will learn a very good lesson and learn that customers are valuable and they can't take them for a 'RIDE'.