Autorickshaws

This is the view from the back of an autorickshaw. I started taking them this week after I gave up my rental car and driver. BooHoo! These little open air taxis aren't so bad as long as you hold on tight, and keep your eyes shut! They downright maniacal... but apparently most people are pretty afraid of hitting them since "you don't know what types they are"... or in other words... "they are from the hood". I've been told that they are known to get out of their car and come after you if you hit them! They are definitely the fastest mode of transportation around.

The first day I started taking them I came out of Oracle after work to look for a ride home. Immediately I was surrounded by 8 auto drivers all wanting to know where I was going. Then one guy appearing to be the chief of all auto drivers demanded that it would cost 80 rupees to get home. [that works out to about 2 dollars] Since it only cost me 20 to get there in the morning it was obvious to me that there was some "hey this one looks like a sucker" going on. After refusing the rate they promptly sent me to the back of the lined up autos where the last guy agreed to use the meter. The ride did in fact cost me 20 rupees. Yeah Me! It's not so much about the money as it is about the principle.

The auto driver in the picture above is Santosh. He gave me a ride home on Friday. He was so nice and friendly and even spoke great English. [did i mention that most of these drivers don't speak English and are rather grumpy?] He was the first auto driver that I dared take of picure of. He was smiling the whole ride... he told me about his baby, his wife and how much his Christian faith meant to him. When we got to my apartment his meter read 16 rupees.... it was the lowest yet! Though he reluctantly took it, I gave him 50 rupees for just being so wonderful. God Bless Santosh!