Scar on Chennai

An outsiders,having no knowledge of the local language expresses its feeling of Chennai's notorious auto drivers.

"The Chennai auto driver is unique: he identifies your weakness, and then lunges for your throat, cuts off all links to reality, chokes every last penny out of your pocket, and leaves you shaken and rattled at your destination (hopefully). Exorbitant fare demands, an unwillingness to help you out with conversations in an unfamiliar language, and through roaring city traffic, a ride that can be rougher and tumbler than the most rough and tumble roller coaster anywhere in the world! "

"The Chennai auto driver has truly mastered the art of being the one scar in an otherwise a brilliant city's side."

On the other side one fine morning i was reading a statement from police commissioner of Chennai in newspapers , “Auto rickshaw fares will be revised soon”. The first reaction on my face was, "What the HELL". I don't know what fare she was talking about, is she so unaware about the city's life.I did not realise that through the black glasses they are not able to even see anything. I do not see any auto rickshaw fare policy in Chennai as in other metropolitans. Fare meter installed in auto rickshaw are just a show piece. I was reallly surprised how we are going to know that fare has been increased, it means that now they are going to rig more, they will legally given authority to rig. You may never know in the next election there will be a promise from the government for that,land of freebies afterall.

Look how they operate the rigging at Chennai central , Pre-Paid taxi counter .I have traveled four times by a prepaid taxi and every time I got a new fare from them, that too in a span of two months before petrol price increase. Lets see how do they estimate the fare in prepaid counter. One traffic policeman will be sitting inside the counter and one person will be standing outside. Once you go to the counter the person standing outside will tell the figures and person sitting inside will write and give you the coupon. But do not feel lucky if you get a coupon , you may not get a auto or you may be required to wait for an hour to get an auto because all drivers are busy bargaining with customers who will pay them double the money you are going to pay. I think hardly anyone is going to wait for an hour to get an auto and end up paying double the amount entered on their coupon to get an auto without wasting their time.

Chennai is a metro on papers, chennnaites should open their eyes , remove their black glasses and see it as it is and accept the reality that it is far behind.

If someone reads it and feels bad then please don't shout back at me, shout with me to make chennai a friendly place for everyone to live a peaceful life.