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'.

The Cliched Bangalore Traffic

Being a Bangalorean and a driver of both a two wheeler and a four wheeler at that, I can't but help comment on the traffic situation in my city - 'pathetic' is quite an understatement.. I don't think there is quite anything that could describe it.. What prompted me to write this was a desire from a long time that if I could express my feelings on the 'state' of traffic then, may be a bit of the frustration would let off steam.. Of course, much as I wouldn't like to admit it, I know it'll just remain a hope!
Anyway, a couple of days ago I was driving on my usual route - Koramangala to Jayanagar to attend a rehearsal.. I took the 'less' congested of the options - through Adugodi, across the Underpass on Dairy Circle and across 'the worst road in India' - the Bannerghatta Road.. and to Jayanagar from there on.. It was heavily populated this particular day - by that I mean, the traffic had stopped right from the underpass itself. I was cursing myself for not driving slower and taking a de-tour earlier on. Just then I heard a huge noise and some guy honking real loud. Was wondering who it could be when I realised it came from an Ambulance. I looked around quite a bit to see where the ambulance was stuck (as I had all the time in the world and wasn't really going anywhere) and from somewhere the ambulance slowly crawled towards my left. There was a patient hooked on to the IV and anxious relatives around. In its direction it was probably headed to the Cardiology Institute I had no where to go and could not do anything. But what started my frustration the motorist in front of the ambulance seemed absolutely unperturbed by the fact that it was an ambulance that was behind them and seem to just go on making their way (read: pushing their vehicles into every nook and corner available) And one surprisingly inhumane moves that people in such situations make is when others make way for the ambulance, instead of letting the ambulance pass they make their way into the available space!
It took almost 20 minutes for the vehicle to make its way through a couple of hundred yards. And all the time people just refused to make way. And the icing on the cake came when I parted ways with the ambulance's route. Here as the ambulance made its way straight ahead, gaining speed because it finally had a clear path ahead of it. A lady on a two wheeler with a friend on the pillion, overtook the ambulance from its left - made her way right in front of the ambulance and non-challantly took a right turn all the way from the left end of the road to the right!
Two things I learnt from this experience: Bangalore again, will never be the same and beware of Ladies on two wheelers - they are no more the sensitive drivers (as much as this may sound macho!)

The Promenade on M G Road!

Well, as it is with newspapers everyday, last Wednesday too it had some shocking news.. And it was again about the changing face of Bangalore.. Though I realize that namma bengalooru that we knew of as kids is never going to be the same, yet every news of the changing times somehow seems to rob me of my memories. The same day I was in Corner House and I saw a picture of the MG Road Promenade as it looked ages ago and I sighed 'Those were the days!' That's what I thought when I saw the flyover come up near National College in Basavanagudi! That's what I felt when a second edition of the Vidhana Soudha was built! That's what I think when I drive down everyday along the dusty roads of Bangalore in the sultry weather.. I wonder what happened to the city we lived in????? I don't know how many people would feel so emotionally attached to their cities but I guess its all got to do with how our childhood memories remain no longer.. We have nothing to fall back on and I think that's what makes me sad.. I remember when I had just started going to school, at that time Koramangala seemed like a city by itself for which we had to travel a long way. But now thinking of my perception then I feel it so funny, considering I was living in Wilson Garden and its just about 20 min drive off from Koramangala. Koramangala now is the hub of Bangalore - unfortunately for all its residents this is nothing to be proud of. The developments here has robbed us of our quiet and peaceful neighbourhood where, 17 years back when we moved in here my mother would claim 'We don't even hear a crow!!'. Now all we hear is noise! A couple of years back we had a re-union at Barista on M G Road.. It was a Sunday evening and since there were many people waiting, we were politely asked to leave the place we were occupying for almost two hours.. The only place to go to next was the Promenade right across the road.. We sat there reminiscing the old times and talking of all the fun in school and catching up on what's been happening with each other's lives.. Now I wish we'd also clicked a photo so I could post it along with this Blog!
Whether I like it or not Bangalore is never going to be the same and in fact, at the rate that it is growing (read: being destroyed) things will always be headed for changes. The sooner I accept this the better it is for me!