The country’s industrial capital, Mumbai, is called so because it provides hundreds of ways to the hundreds of people coming in, to earn some moolah!!
Having stayed in this city of dreams for the past 20 years I have realized that the number of auto rickshaws have been on a consistent increase. I typically am a very lazy person so progress in this sector helped me. I am a regular user of this service. Well this is also, one of the reasons why I can write a post on my observations over the years about the different species of auto-drivers.
The different categories in which auto-drivers have been classified (by me of course) are as follows:
(Typical, ain’t it?)
Type 1:
These are the ones who make up for the majority. They are least bothered about anything. They will drop you off where you want, never interfere unnecessarily, generally quite. And on a personal note, I find them to be the best kinds.
Type 2:
They are the sweet ones. Ah! Correction… the OVER SWEET ones. Man!! A person can so get onto your nerves just by being sweet is unimaginable. They will ask you how you want to go. And yes they will also make it a point to advise you about the routes you should take for different places. For instance, I was travelling to college from home and this auto guy must have driven me there twice earlier (may be). He suggested me to hire an auto (I did say I am lazy, so wouldn’t type the whole term) on monthly basis to drive me to college. He also incidentally happened to drive me home from classes one day at around 10 pm, and so came his next advice, to hire an auto on a monthly basis if it gets so late everyday. I surely appreciate their concern but it does tend to irritate.
Type 3:
They are the over careful ones. Once you are seated you get a weird feeling of awkward serenity. They will start slow, maintain that speed, careful not to get into the potholes (wouldn’t mind zigzagging on the street). You try your best to sit upright but fail miserably. And if you a re getting late by any chance, you will hell not reach on time.
Type 4:
These are the kind that will make you feel as if you have been punished for hiring their vehicle. You are under constant fear of being stopped by some patrolling official. And I have sub-divided them into two-
a) The ones who drive fast, very fast and you try to keep all your things safe, fearing they mite just get blown off. They are not that scary but yes one does get a good dose of fear.
b) Now, now. These are the scariest of all and you will definitely regret having taken that auto. They drive fast plus somehow manage to get their wheels into almost all the potholes on the road. They will get into the smallest space available. This time too you cling on to your belongings not because+ they might get blown off but because you are actually scared of hitting a tree or big vehicle or getting blown off yourself. The ride is no less than that of a roller coaster.
Well this is all that my studies can reveal so far. And this classification is a result of a ride from home to college in an auto with Type 3 driver.
