Its not about roller coasters, as the title states. As a matter of fact, I never go on roller coaster rides . I am always happy to have both my feet on the ground. I never like to defy the gravitational force. Its about a ride in a share auto. No one belonging to Chennai would have missed this auto ride. All precautions are taken in a roller coaster but none , in this auto ride . You just travel keeping your fingers crossed,; no safety norms observed, no road rules followed. The driver would stop anywhere on the road, load any number of people and go. I really doubt, if the driver really has a driving licence. Recently, I boarded a share auto, as I thought, a fifteen minutes ride can do me no harm. It was nice to start with with just 7 people, all seated comfortably. But, after the journey began, the driver stopped every three minutes and loaded many people, asking everyone inside the auto to adjust. He had tactfully loaded 14 people into the auto which can accommodate only 8. .I thought that was all; again he stopped and loaded a man who also wanted to travel sitting near him. The driver was perched so precariously on his seat that I was really scared that either the driver or the other person would really fall out any time. As of us ,we couldnt move a bit,; were just tightly packed like the biscuits of a pack. Speed breakers, I am not sure whether they limit the speed of the vehicles or not but they really make the auto riders to touch sky and come down. The driver just enjoyed speeding over the speed breaker rather than cutting off the speed. In our township we have quiet a lot of earth to sky bridges in the name of speed breakers. Among the passengers, there was a lady who was complaining about her son to her friend ; another talking about her illness , you get to hear all types of philosophical advices gven by the co-passengers. All making it a good entertainment, sometimes. We all held our breath, when the driver managed the squeeze the auto between two buses; a small jerk could have toppled us. When I shouted at the driver for being reckless, a woman commented that whatever is destined to happen will happen and fate only triumphs. Somehow the ordeal came to an end ….and finally I got down. My God, I never thought a fifteen minutes ride could be so scary. I really thanked God and the ride reminded myself how much I loved my dear life. Whenever I see a share auto speeding towards me, I just run away to extreme side of the road to assure me of the safety. That is the best thing to do.
We learn at lot in life through our experiences.. Now as a friend of mine has pointed out that there are also many positive points about share autos. I quote my friend below: ,
“It gets all the bad reputation on account of driver's greed and passenger's expediency.
If you recall the Bond Actor: Pierce Brosnan likes the ride on our three wheelers: Auto and Share Auto. I too.
Share Auto has many virtues. It is a great leveller. It brings everyone on the same plane. No bar on caste, colour,creed, sex age, etc., etc.,
It provides whole body physio theapy. It can vibrate, shake oscillate in several directions conditioned by the number of people in it. It has one Statutory limitation: MINIMUM 7!(I disagree here ,have you travelled in Kalpakkam ,they have a wooden bench fixed at the back of the driver and believe 4 adults could be seated on it.) I had the opportunity of sitting next to the driver and travel from Tiruvanmiyur Depot to Adayar Depot. Sitting on the "hot" seat and travelling with only one hand to keep you inside the moving junkyard was an experience in itself. These vehicle drivers are little more adventurous as the traffic is less and picks up good speed. judgments about this ride.”
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