Convenience lost

When I proposed the idea of moving back to India, I had clear reasons backing my stand. One of them was ‘convenience’. The convenience and availability of cheap public transport, for one. I think that makes a big difference to the quality of life you lead. In the US, we used our beloved car all the time and drove everywhere. When we didn’t use our car, we walked. Buses had neither good connectivity, nor good frequency. Atleast not in the area we lived in.

I remember walking back from the BART station close to our home in the Bay Area and thinking to myself “Man, had I been in India, I’d have just gotten into an auto without any thought”. There were days on which Mint and I would walk back home from the station at night. It would be windy and cold. I’d be tired. Yet, we thought taking a cab was too much of a luxury. California was expensive. Splurging on cabs seemed like an indulgence we couldn’t afford. Each of those times – I missed India. After all, in India, most people huddled in the middle class bracket would be able to afford auto rickshaws, if not cabs.

I think those words are coming to bite me back in my ass. Auto fares in Mumbai have been jumping steadily, every few months. A little more than a year ago, it cost me Rs 20, to go from my home to the nearest station. Today, it costs me Rs 40! In case you are slow with numbers, that is double of what it used to be not too long ago.

Yes, petrol is becoming pricier by the day, but despite that, I don’t think it justifies the ridiculous fares we pay to auto drivers. Also, most autos/rickshaws run on CNG, which is cheaper than petrol. Anyway, meter rates keep getting revised upwards, even when there are no fuel hikes.  Today, driving your own car to a nearby locality would be cheaper than than taking an rickshaw. This leaves me a bit confused.

Where do the ordinary people go? There are more than a million people who cannot afford a car. They rely heavily on rickshaws. And then there are people who can afford cars, but still prefer to hop into an auto – just so they can escape the ordeal of parking the car in this crammed city. And then there are others like my mom – middle aged men and women who do own vehicles but do not know how to drive them. There are old people who cannot climb into trains and buses. There are people who can’t otherwise afford rickshaws, but still go ahead and use them sometimes when they are short of time and can’t afford to wait for a bus or a train. Now that rickshaws are no longer a commodity that we can afford, where do we turn to?

The fares have nearly doubled in the past year or two, unfortunately, our salary packages remain more or less the same. This is just creating a bigger gap between our needs and the available resources. Will autos become a luxury in India? Are they really a luxury? What am I paying for? A rickety ride in a slow moving auto rickshaw that forces me to ingest truckloads of pollution (‘truck loads’ literally) that is killing me?

I do not want to comment on the economic environment. Call it inflation, or whatever you want. I am only observing the effects it has on me. I know the famed auto drivers are needy people. They are fighting the rising prices of vegetables and other everyday essentials. But heck, I am needy too. Prices are rising around me too, and nobody is giving me a pay hike.

I know. They say rickshaws are criminalised and discriminated against.  I’ve thought through this argument. While I am not sure I blame the auto drivers for the fare hikes, I certainly blame them for turning into a pricey breed. The arrogance with which they see through me and drive away when I am waiting on the road with bags in my hands is unnerving and frustrating. Even if they do stop, they snootily turn up their noses after I tell them where I want to go and drive away. If they are needy, why don’t they really do their job and take me where I want to go? How can they refuse destination X and destination Y? Why can’t they respect their job? Now, we don’t exactly get to choose all our projects at work, do we? We don’t always get to take up the most profitable opportunity. We just have to take what we get. Why should it be any different for them?

Reports say this is the 3rd freaking hike that has taken place within the span of a year. I know I can no longer count on auto rickshaws as a medium of transport for an everyday commute. I miss the days in which I could heedlessly hail an auto and be dropped to to my destination. Now, with the new provisions of the autorichsaw fares- the middle class has been made to part with an integral component of their lives.  There goes my ‘convenience’ factor. I know I will have to brave the heat and the dust and walk up to the bus stop in the mid day sun, and then jostle my way in the midst of sweaty strangers who love all displays of profanity. Suddenly, I miss USA. And my car. And the smooth roads. And the prices of gas, that sound so sweet to me now.