Friday, June 20, 2008

A Remarkable tuk –tuk man

The rising fuel prices have been eating into most of our daily expenses, and I wonder where this is all going. The salary remains the same but the cost of living goes up. Here are some cartoons I received in a fwd mail.



Have you even sat in an auto rickshaw and wondered if the driver was a genuine guy, and that he was demanding a fair price for your destination? Most of us have a pre-conceived notion that auto drivers are always trying to take advantage of people, by taking them for a ride. It is true but not all of them. They normally do that because they think you are an “Out of Towner” and could take advantage of the situation. I’m sure most of us are in some way egocentric when it comes to our own benefits.

Yesterday I had a chance to travel in an auto to work and as usual I raised my hand to the next auto in sight. This guy was really nice. He was kind and he had that sense of dependability and made sure he was respectful and requested for a fair price from my home to office. I normally have to brawl and argue with these guys, and end up paying almost Rs.70 for about 5 km distance. A fair fee would be between Rs.50 to Rs.60. This guy asked me, how much I would normally pay for this distance, and me trying to be all straightforward, told him in a very cheeky tone that I pay only Rs.50 and nothing more than that. To my surprise he offered to use his meter for the journey. Normally auto drivers never offer to use their meters since the prices were too low for them to break even. In my mind I was wondering if his meter was rigged. Anyway I took my chances and sat in the auto. When I reached office and looked at the meter and the amount was Rs.40, and the auto driver also told me that I need not pay Rs.50 as agreed before, but to pay only Rs.40 as per the meter reading. I felt a little guilty for all that went through my mind during my ride to office, and so I insisted and paid him Rs.60 and told him “I wished all auto drivers in Chennai were like you.” I would consider this as one of my best moments in an auto. It is very extraordinary to come across people like him.

3 comments:

Macabreday said...

got back frm blore this morning. took a prepaid auto from central to anna nagar. cost was 70, which is normal. though on meter it comes to exactly 45. after i reached home, the chooth of the 1st order refused to give me balance for 100. he took away the bill and said that the normal cost was 100. after much arguing he returned 20. what a prick...!!
and yea, when ever i get a guy who asks a reasonable rate, i always make sure to give him 10 extra for his honesty. but im yet to come across someone who used a meter in chennai...!! macha, next time it happens, ask him for his mobile number and if he is close by use him for all the trips.

Deepa said...

Hey!! If this auto guy was from the stand near our house, you should have got his mobile number!!!

pradipwritenow said...

I thought Chennai would be different from other auto studded cities. Been to Chennai twice fare being paid by company's representative and was not knowing this episode. Thank you for giving me this piece of information.