Autorikshaws & Chennai

I am lifetime member of the Madras club. Even though it is now called Chennai, the name Madras will stick to the city.

I am native of chennai and have worked in Bangalore & Mumbai (Bombay) for a few years. In all these years, I have travelled a lot in autorikshaws (auto as they are called in south). In Bangalore or Mumbai, travelling by the auto is just another mode of transport. Normally, you will flag an auto and tell the driver where to go and you pay the fare as shown on the meter. Some how the experience in my hometown is totally different.

Chennai auto travel is completely different. As a first step, you need to find an auto driver, who is ready to take you to your destination. Once you find one, the next step is the biggest one - haggling for the fare. I do not remember when an auto driver put on the meter to get the fare in the last 15 years. You will have to haggle and you will get all reasons for the fare - petrol rise, too long a distance, the driver might not get the next fare from your destination, one way / circuitous route to be taken, sometimes even your luggage. The rates will border from normal (do not assume that it is as per the metered fare) - as per the usual rate fixed by the auto drivers to exhorbitant (sometimes double or triple the 'normal' fare) to even daylight robbery. If you do not know the local language, then the haggling becomes all the more interesting (difficult). Even if you are a localite, the drivers will still take you for a "ride" (pun intended).

Once you have agreed upon the fare, do not rest assured that your travel will be smooth. As you get closer to your destination, the driver might start questions like how much longer he has to go. It gets interesting, especially when you return home in the late evening. If you stay off the main roads, the questions will start coming fast. Some times the driver will start cribbing that it is a lot farther than what he was told, or he will have to come back all the way to the main road after dropping you and so on and so forth. You need to understand that all this means there is going to be further haggling of the fare once you reach your destination. After all this, once you look back the journey will through a lot of interesting discussions.

More often than not, I tend to indulge in small talk with drivers and that throughs a lot of insights in the current trend especially politics and way of life of the drivers. I have heard from some of the drivers, that they make good money whereas the others just want to get a few fares a day, make money and while away the rest of the day in the auto stands. I have also heard a lot of interesting thoughts on the politics - including some of the gimmicks that are carried out by our politicians. .

Finally, the autos in chennai are given a free hand by subsequent governments due to which they run a cartel. This has come to situation now wherein it has become very difficult to curb them and their 'rates'

Sabarmati Ashram

During my visit to Ahmedabad to attend my brother's convocation, I visited the Sabarmati Ashram. I have read about Gandhiji and Sabarmati Ashram and had seen photographs of the Ashram. I had planned for a short trip before the convocation, but later decided to go to the Ashram at a more leisurely pace. What a decision it was...

The road outside the Ashram had its own share traffic, noise pollution etc. But once inside, I could feel the peace and 'hear the silence'. I was astounded by the simplicity of the place. Here I was standing in the same place as the Mahatma, from where he took on the British. I went around the entire photo exhibition, learning a lot about the Mahatma in the process, trying to understand his thoughts and what went in his mind. Mahatma had the support of Kasturba and what surprised me was that it took him some time to convince her about untouchability, one key thought which changed the way India was.

I went around the photo exhibition, till one photo caught my attention - it was of the Mahatma. I could not refuse to take a photo of the same. Here was a man who was fighting the might of the British and had so many issues to contend with. But the peace in his face belied all that worries. I could not imagine if any other man could have been so peaceful but still shouldering the burden of an entire nation. No wonder, we call him Mahatma.

As I went around to see his house, the place where he used to meet people, take rest etc. The simplicity of the man reflected in every stone, every grain of sand in that place. His house reflected his thoughts - clean, clear and simple. The 3-monkey statue so aptly implied his philosophy of life.

I spent a few hours trying to understand the Mahatma and his life. It was great eye-opener to me. After I came out of the Ashram, I had a lot of thoughts. In the city of the Mahatma, so many things have happened which should have never happened. I think it is the time for all of us to realize the true meaning of his life, his teachings of ahimsa and satyagraha and practice them.

We need not leave the world a better place than what it was when we came. But at least, let us leave it as the same place it was, when our fathers and their fathers gave it.