Calcutta to ban hand-pulled rickshaws.

amyl · Mar 18th, 2008, 18:47

A classic picture there, CH!! BTW Where the heck are you??????

Spent some time looking for this thread to post this photo series on NG.

Last Days of the Rickshaw

Are they still running??

ks_bluechip · Mar 18th, 2008, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by amyl

A classic picture there, CH!! BTW Where the heck are you??????

Spent some time looking for this thread to post this photo series on NG.

Last Days of the Rickshaw

Are they still running??

amyl: Thanks for posting this NG link of Kolkata's Rickshaws (and reviving a Aug-2005 thread). Great Pictures of course! Nostalgic for me .... having lived there from 1950 to 1972 and taken hundreds of Rick-rides in Central Kolkata ..... KS

the opoponax · Mar 18th, 2008, 19:01

Yup. Or at least they were about 6 weeks ago when I was there.

I was kind of curious, but never got up the nerve to ride in one. I just can't do it.

atala · Mar 18th, 2008, 20:16

The problem in riding them is not that is inhuman (actually you do the pullers a favor by using their service), the problem is to believe that they will actually be able to hold the balance. Riding with them you get the feeling you might tip over backwards if there is a problem on the road.

Besides I heard in the rainy season when the roads are flooded they are often the only possibility since you sit so high...

If it really came to the question of being inhuman, other types of work would have to be considered first. Like carrying a fifty or a hundred kg sack of cement or something on your bare back. Or making hot tar on an open fire. Just stay around any market where things are carried from trucks and you'll see what I mean. Pulling people around on Rickshaws is like a piece of cake compared to a lot of other types of work.

the opoponax · Mar 18th, 2008, 20:22

Quote:

Like carrying a fifty or a hundred kg sack of cement or something on your bare back. Or making hot tar on an open fire.

Neither of which I hired anyone to do for me in India.

I don't necessarily think it should be outlawed, or that it's immoral to ride them, or that others shouldn't do it. Just that I couldn't bring myself to. I can't exactly go back in time and change the fact that I didn't ride in a hand-pulled rickshaw when I was in Kolkata over a month ago. I'm not sure whether I would do it or not if I went back and they were still around.

Nick-H · Mar 18th, 2008, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by atala

Pulling people around on Rickshaws is like a piece of cake compared to a lot of other types of work.

Hmm, yes, like "manual scavenging" which is a euphemism for sending human beings down sewers to clear the shit blockages.

And not the sort of sewers that you walk along; the sort where you hold your breath and dive into it.

There's always talk of banning it.

lotus blossom · Mar 18th, 2008, 20:47

i arrived calcutta a few days ago, my first visit to the city. i've just now saw a couple of hand-pulled human powered rickshaws, though both were empty. it is soooo hot and humid here i cannot imagine how they manage.

because the laborers who fight to keep their jobs don't seem to need or want our sympathy on this issue, i find that it is actually not as difficult to see as compared to lots of other things in the streets...for me, namely the animals.

atala · Mar 18th, 2008, 21:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by the opoponax

Neither of which I hired anyone to do for me in India.

You participated in their task by buying things in the market, by eating in a restaurant and so on that implied their services. We are all interdependent.

or

amyl · Mar 19th, 2008, 03:55

Quote:

never got up the nerve to ride in one. I just can't do it.

Same here. Nor did I like to take the cycled-rickshaws at Delhi going around Kashmere Gate. But I did and I can tell sitting at the back it's gruesome. And not to mentioned dangerous for the passengers too.

Inhuman?! ummmm...I have mixed feelings about it. Absolutely not sure which party I belong.

atala · Mar 25th, 2008, 18:16

I made a video once from atop a hand pulled Rikshaw, and watched it again recently, just to check how hard the work for the man "running it" was. It looked real easy. I could see how attractive a job it must appear to be for those Biharis (typically the pullers are from Bihar, which might be another reason why it is easier to elimiate their jobs). Once the vehicle is roling there is not much effort required besides the walking (they are not running normally).

It does feel odd though to ride ontop, because there is a complete dependence on what the Kuli does, how he moves, a thing which is less prominent with a cycle Rikshaw. What would happen if the Kuli stumbled, would one fall over backwards? I think this dependence is making it odd, and there is more forceful identification with the Kuli as one's servant, (an idea which we Westerners are not used to anyhow) while he is actually the master of our fate.

The idea of abolishing them all the way is more the result of a clash of views rather than a realistic approach to the reality as it is. I think it is not a coincidence (or rather it is one) that the clean-up of Kolkata started with the visit of the then Prime Minister of England, John Major, to the city in 1997. That was when most street vendors disappeared and were relocated to the suburbs, and most of the Kulis of hand-pulled Rikshaws lost their jobs. Just a few were left over, which appearently have to go now too. Sad for the Bihari families involved.

After reading the first post (year 2005) of this thread, it needs to be added that the hand-pulled Rickshaws still exist in 2008. the announcement was just a political move, or a move to get more bribes from someone.

Mar 18th, 2008, 18:47	#46
amyl 21st Century Freak Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Singapura.......in Babenhausen, DE for a while Posts: 1,850	A classic picture there, CH!! BTW Where the heck are you?????? Spent some time looking for this thread to post this photo series on NG. Last Days of the Rickshaw Are they still running?? __________________ a'mar kono chinta nei

Mar 18th, 2008, 20:47	#52
lotus blossom re-member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: blowin' in the wind Posts: 1,883	i arrived calcutta a few days ago, my first visit to the city. i've just now saw a couple of hand-pulled human powered rickshaws, though both were empty. it is soooo hot and humid here i cannot imagine how they manage. because the laborers who fight to keep their jobs don't seem to need or want our sympathy on this issue, i find that it is actually not as difficult to see as compared to lots of other things in the streets...for me, namely the animals. __________________ Not all who wander are lost

Mar 25th, 2008, 18:16	#55
atala Senior Member, 8 yrs in India Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Switzerland, just back from India 2008 Posts: 691	I made a video once from atop a hand pulled Rikshaw, and watched it again recently, just to check how hard the work for the man "running it" was. It looked real easy. I could see how attractive a job it must appear to be for those Biharis (typically the pullers are from Bihar, which might be another reason why it is easier to elimiate their jobs). Once the vehicle is roling there is not much effort required besides the walking (they are not running normally). It does feel odd though to ride ontop, because there is a complete dependence on what the Kuli does, how he moves, a thing which is less prominent with a cycle Rikshaw. What would happen if the Kuli stumbled, would one fall over backwards? I think this dependence is making it odd, and there is more forceful identification with the Kuli as one's servant, (an idea which we Westerners are not used to anyhow) while he is actually the master of our fate. The idea of abolishing them all the way is more the result of a clash of views rather than a realistic approach to the reality as it is. I think it is not a coincidence (or rather it is one) that the clean-up of Kolkata started with the visit of the then Prime Minister of England, John Major, to the city in 1997. That was when most street vendors disappeared and were relocated to the suburbs, and most of the Kulis of hand-pulled Rikshaws lost their jobs. Just a few were left over, which appearently have to go now too. Sad for the Bihari families involved. After reading the first post (year 2005) of this thread, it needs to be added that the hand-pulled Rickshaws still exist in 2008. the announcement was just a political move, or a move to get more bribes from someone. Last edited by atala : Mar 26th, 2008 at 14:46.

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Mar 18th, 2008, 19:01	#48
the opoponax Maha Guru Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brooklyn, via New Orleans Posts: 1,054	Yup. Or at least they were about 6 weeks ago when I was there. I was kind of curious, but never got up the nerve to ride in one. I just can't do it.

Mar 18th, 2008, 20:16	#49
atala Senior Member, 8 yrs in India Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Switzerland, just back from India 2008 Posts: 691	The problem in riding them is not that is inhuman (actually you do the pullers a favor by using their service), the problem is to believe that they will actually be able to hold the balance. Riding with them you get the feeling you might tip over backwards if there is a problem on the road. Besides I heard in the rainy season when the roads are flooded they are often the only possibility since you sit so high... If it really came to the question of being inhuman, other types of work would have to be considered first. Like carrying a fifty or a hundred kg sack of cement or something on your bare back. Or making hot tar on an open fire. Just stay around any market where things are carried from trucks and you'll see what I mean. Pulling people around on Rickshaws is like a piece of cake compared to a lot of other types of work.

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