Cycle Rickshaw VS Auto rickshaw - touching article

My travelling mate and I were at odds as figuring out when to hire a cycle rickshaw and when to hire an auto rickshaw. Our guidebook informed us that when possible hire a cycle for shorter trips as the drivers are more economically disadvantaged and really could use the money.

To be honest- we weren't patient and didn't bother and went with autorickshaws as it was hot and could not stand the slow pace.. until we read this article in the Times.


The Times
March 22, 2008

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/L...ow/2890292.cms

A stirring article, Zeitgeist, and food for thought indeed. Cycle rickshaw-wallahs work hard for small money and whether to take one or not depends on a few factors - how much luggage one has, whether it's pouring with rain or sun and extremely hot etc.
I prefer them to auto rickshaws - quiet and pleasant for a shorter trip. And I always give more than what they ask because I think they work so hard.

I completely agree with you Aishah...I do the same.They work incredibly hard.
I had a truly great experience with one man (Surinder) in Amritsar last October.He turned out to be a veritable font of knowledge about the city,history etc.Just a great experience!

musicgap

I was in Lucknow last year, I left the station area and started walking along the main road looking for the thinnest cycle rickshaw wallah, I asked how many Rs to (can't remember the name of the place), he said Rs20, seemed fair, about half way to our destination the right peddle snapped off, it looked un-repairable, the man just shrugged his shoulders and carried on with the journey, he was using the main metal frame (that the peddle would be attached to) as a peddle.

It was about 10 more minutes to our destination, giving me plenty of time to think, as a motorbike courier I'm well aware of the problems caused by damage to you're 'tool of work', so when we got to our destination I give him Rs20, then pointed at his peddle and give him another Rs100, before he could say anything I walked away.

Later that day, in the main road going away from the (2) main stations, I was enjoying a hot milk drink and a hot pudding type sweet (damn, these were gorgeous and only cost about Rs14), when the same man jumped from his cycle rickshaw and started chatting to me (I didn't have a clue what he was saying), he showed me the fixed (new) peddle and he seemed very happy, the couple in his rickshaw said something to him and he took them on their way.

But he'd made my day seem wonderful.

About 40 minutes later I was in an Internet Cafe and typed the following....

India, as always, can play on every emotion to the extreme, and sometimes only minutes separate these extreme emotions.

Steve, write that damn book

Great post.

yes steve....very nice post.....

a pretty interesting article....but on the practical side Delhi atleast would do well for itself to restrict the number or rather area's where cycle-rickshaws ply.....they are dangerous, cause commotion and jams, and are often a cause for accidents...

steven:
... and yet again
i concur with cap'n


zeitgeist: great article thank you.
[ love your nick name nice! ]



:brishti

Nice story, Steven - I did enjoy reading your two accounts. Yes, you should be writing a book..

Cycle rickshaws went out of existence sometime back in most of the southern states where they were replaced by autos financed by the govt. I remember in Anantpur (AP) in the early eighties the Railway station was below a steep gradient and the rikshaw puller found it impossible to go up with the luggage & passengers and we used to walk up the gradient to help him. I feel it is better for the state govts to finance these poor people to buy an auto and do away with this mode of inhuman labor altogether !

Thats another thing we can do without in Delhi now..

Ok, call me snarky but---when I read this article in the paper a couple of weeks ago, both my husband and I were a bit surprised. The author noted the cycle-rickshaw-man was quite old, and still haggled him down from Rs. 15 to Rs. 12. Then, at the end, he seems to pat himself on the back for being a major do-gooder and giving the originally-quoted Rs. 15.

It is incredibly sad that the cycle-rickshaw-man was in such a state, and I do understand that every little bit helps, especially in such circumstances. However, the tone of the article just didn't mesh with me, and it made the author look like a total cheapskate, though I realize that it was meant to be 'soul-stirring' in terms of someone helping another person. The Sunday 'Soul Curry' article is sometimes a hit, and sometimes a bit of a miss, for me!

You're right Piper - the author was a cheapskate giving only 3 rupees - it would have been better if he'd given him double the asking price! But the story made me think about how hard these people work, scraping a living, and how mean some can be. And even if they are to be banned from cities, let's hope some government compensation will help them continue to get some income.

If the cycle rickshaws were done away with ...what would these guys do instead?
I agree that although its a nice story he could have given him more so he could have had the day off maybe???

Dont get me wrong...i am aware of that but unfortunately i dont have a solution, but the fact remains that we also cant have many more auto's plying the Delhi roads as well.