A couple of years back i had written about the happy man, Vijaykumar whom i met in Malahalli falls of western ghats. Since then i have met myriad men and women from different walks but not another one like Vijay Kumar.
August 2013 was a difficult month for our family. Life had taken one complete circle and i was engrossed in a strange philosophical thought (and conflict). I left to Delhi on the 12 of September for a break of 10 days. It was a much needed break for me.
Delhi is a nice place but for the climate. For foodies like me, it is a treat. I had some program in the krishna mutta for 2 days. Other than that i was by and large free. I watched the superb kannada movie "Lucia" with a couple of friends in Gurgaon.
One day i decided to go to east Delhi. East Delhi is a pretty clumsy place. Its about an hour ride in the metro train from Safdarjung enclave where i was staying. I decided to brave the Metro rush at Rajiv chowk and take the ride to 'Shahdara'. My plan was to visit the Metro mall (b2b store) there.
Shahdara turned out to be a nightmare. It was a buzzing place with people all over the place. It was raining very heavily. There was no shelter outside the station and i was completely drenched. The place outside the station was flooded and there was no auto rickshaw in sight.
There were many cycle rickshaws waiting outside the station. I was not in a mood to take the cycle rickshaw ride. But i was not in a mood to return home either. Having come all the way braving the metro train rush, i had to visit the shopping mall. Finally i made the bold effort of hiring a cycle rickshaw. But to my surprise, none of the rickshaw pullers knew the Metro mall. When i had almost decided to get back, an old man (may be late 50s or early 60s) said he would take me in his rickshaw.
This was my second ride in a cycle rickshaw in the last year. My last ride was in Chandini chowk last September.
I did not ask my rickshaw puller the cost of the ride. As the rain stopped ; my rickshaw was pulled into the winding roads of Shahdara.
5 minutes into the ride, it started pouring heavily. My rickshaw puller had no rain gear (neither did i). Rains did not deter him. He was pedalling and totally drenched. At that time i asked him to stop. He did stop beneath the bridge. He requested if we could proceed since he was losing his business hours. I insisted that we stay (i was partially covered) till the rain stopped. He reluctantly obliged. We stopped for 10 minutes. I asked him his name. His name was Bisham (or something like that). He was from Delhi and was pulling the cycle rickshaw for close to 35 years. He was thin and energetic.
The rain stopped and we continued the bumpy ride. The roads were flooded and stuffed. Cycles, pedestrians, Hawkers, motorists and cars were all moving in an mayhem The road was hardy 10 feet wide and full of hawkers. There was no discipline or order. Bisham's Rickshaw was quite old and brakes had worn out. I could hear him shout 'Baju' ! 'Baju'! .
After a 40 minute roller coaster ride i reached my destination. It was an effort getting there. But it was a greater effort for Bisham to get me there (It is after all not easy to pedal a 100 kg load as your pillion).
Bisham had pedaled me for about 40 minutes in pouring rain. The distance was about 3 kms. I asked Bisham the hire charges and he said it was 40 rupees. I thought 40 rupees was quite cheap for the effort he had made. However i made the payment and asked him to wait, if he could ;for about 30 minutes for my return, so that i can be dropped back to the station. There was no obligation though since i had paid the hire charges.
The shopping went on for more than an hour. I came out of the mall after about 90 minutes of shopping. It was drizzling. To my surprise, i found Bisham waiting for me.
We started our return journey in the narrow, bumpy, crowded, flooded roads of shahdara. 10 minutes into the ride, it started pouring heavily. We got completely drenched in no time. Bisham stopped beneath a tarpaulin for about 15 minutes. We resumed the bumpy ride to reach the station.
I was quite sure that Bisham would ask me a higher hire charges. I gave him a 100 rupee note. He put it inside his pocket and gave me six 10 rupee notes back. I was surprised. I asked him if there was no extra charge for waiting and higher effort. He just said "Nahi saab" (No sir). When i offered him fifty rupees extra, he refused it. When i insisted, he took 20 rupees.
Its painful to see an old man working this hard (80 or 100 rupees for 3 hours of really hard work). But this man looked very contented Though he hardly spoke to me, one could make out that he is a satisfied man.
How i wish some of the auto drivers in Bangalore could take a leaf out of Bisham's book.
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| Cycle Rickshaw ride in the horrible roads of east Delhi |
I did not ask my rickshaw puller the cost of the ride. As the rain stopped ; my rickshaw was pulled into the winding roads of Shahdara.
5 minutes into the ride, it started pouring heavily. My rickshaw puller had no rain gear (neither did i). Rains did not deter him. He was pedalling and totally drenched. At that time i asked him to stop. He did stop beneath the bridge. He requested if we could proceed since he was losing his business hours. I insisted that we stay (i was partially covered) till the rain stopped. He reluctantly obliged. We stopped for 10 minutes. I asked him his name. His name was Bisham (or something like that). He was from Delhi and was pulling the cycle rickshaw for close to 35 years. He was thin and energetic.
The rain stopped and we continued the bumpy ride. The roads were flooded and stuffed. Cycles, pedestrians, Hawkers, motorists and cars were all moving in an mayhem The road was hardy 10 feet wide and full of hawkers. There was no discipline or order. Bisham's Rickshaw was quite old and brakes had worn out. I could hear him shout 'Baju' ! 'Baju'! .
After a 40 minute roller coaster ride i reached my destination. It was an effort getting there. But it was a greater effort for Bisham to get me there (It is after all not easy to pedal a 100 kg load as your pillion).
Bisham had pedaled me for about 40 minutes in pouring rain. The distance was about 3 kms. I asked Bisham the hire charges and he said it was 40 rupees. I thought 40 rupees was quite cheap for the effort he had made. However i made the payment and asked him to wait, if he could ;for about 30 minutes for my return, so that i can be dropped back to the station. There was no obligation though since i had paid the hire charges.
The shopping went on for more than an hour. I came out of the mall after about 90 minutes of shopping. It was drizzling. To my surprise, i found Bisham waiting for me.
We started our return journey in the narrow, bumpy, crowded, flooded roads of shahdara. 10 minutes into the ride, it started pouring heavily. We got completely drenched in no time. Bisham stopped beneath a tarpaulin for about 15 minutes. We resumed the bumpy ride to reach the station.
I was quite sure that Bisham would ask me a higher hire charges. I gave him a 100 rupee note. He put it inside his pocket and gave me six 10 rupee notes back. I was surprised. I asked him if there was no extra charge for waiting and higher effort. He just said "Nahi saab" (No sir). When i offered him fifty rupees extra, he refused it. When i insisted, he took 20 rupees.
Its painful to see an old man working this hard (80 or 100 rupees for 3 hours of really hard work). But this man looked very contented Though he hardly spoke to me, one could make out that he is a satisfied man.
How i wish some of the auto drivers in Bangalore could take a leaf out of Bisham's book.
