Anyone who has visited Chennai would know the hassle of getting an auto rickshaw and getting into an agreement with the fares. There happens to be a meter that never runs or no-one cares to turn it on. The world knows it and I am not going to repeat it again. Instead, I am going to narrate two very contrasting auto trips that I made on my most recent vacation.
Me and my mom were getting back from T.Nagar after noon and we got into an auto. Surprisingly, the driver asked for a nominal fare with very little bargaining and we were en route home. Things were fine till suddenly, the driver started straying into the wrong side of the road. He wasn't trying to overtake and there was not much traffic in the road either. He did not react even when a bus was approaching us. all of a sudden there was honking from all directions and finally something snapped and he got back at the nick of time to avoid the bus. Alarm bells were ringing in all corners of my head. What is he doing ? Is he sleeping ? I then tried not to think too much and diverted my chain of thoughts. Exactly the same thing happened after 20 minutes. This time I was really scared and I asked the driver - "enna sir, enna aachu ? - semma tookam varadha ?" (what happened ? are you feeling sleepy ?). For that he replied, "illa sar kaanu konjam teriala." (can't see too well sir).There was pin drop silence for the next few minutes. My mom started saying all kinds of prayers. Finally after reaching home she went straight to the prayer room and thanked the gods for getting us together in one piece.
For the next ride, I was getting back home after spending a day at my sisters place. I got an auto and noticed that there was something big sitting behind the back seat. I asked the driver what it was and he removed the cloth covering it. There sat two BAD ASS speakers and a woofer sitting there. I have seen this breed of crazy autos only in the movies "Oram Po" (Fast and Furious remade with auto) but it was the first time I saw one in really and I was riding on it too. The driver asked me if I wanted to listen to music. On agreeing, he played some really collection that included Ace of the Base etc etc ... Passers by could not hide their curiosity and had to take a look. It was just awesome to travel in that auto.
