Chronicles of Chennai - Part 1
For those of you who have lived in Chennai for sometime, you would know that autorickshaws are an essential part of life in the city. You hate them, but you need them all the same.


A seemingly harmless auto
Being an outstation student, there are some parts of the city you cant navigate yourself through. For example, I might know Nungambakkam or Velachery, but I really dont know T. Nagar. So today when I went for an appointment to an organisation called Hand in Hand (check out their website http://hihseed.org/). Their office is in T.Nagar; so now I travelled to Mambalam by train. From there, I didnt know how to get to Radhakrishna Road. So I went by auto.
Now the thing about auto is, they'll rip you off, the auto drivers. Always. He charged me 50 bucks and I didnt have any option because I didnt know where the place is. So I reached the place and I realised that it shouldve only cost me 30.
So I say (in a combination of bad Tamil and Malayalam),
Me : You charged me 50 for this.
Auto D : Standard Rate
Me : I know its not the standard rate
AD: It is, check the fare list.
Me: Fine, give me the fare list.
AD: I dont have the fare list.
Me: Why?
AD: hahaha
Me: Come, lets go to the cops (an empty threat, most auto's are owned by cops in Chennai)
AD: hahaha
Me: Listen, I'm a student, its the end of the month, you cant do this to us poor students
AD: I'm an auto driver, its the end of the month.
Me: You make a profit out of the standard rate, why charge more.
AD: hahahaha *drives off*
This is why you hate auto drivers. So while going to T Nagar bus stand from Hand in Hand's office, I had to take another auto, and I was surprised when this guy said thirty (Mambalam station is close to T.Nagar bus depot).
I was travelling and this guy gets a call and he very nicely says, "One minute" (in Tamil). So I say, Okay. He says something in Tamil, which sounds like this
"Ah? Enaa? oh.. ange ithu pakkalam... aa? AA! AAAAAA! 400?! AAA"
I have two friends, Srestha and Advik who are from Delhi and when they came to Chennai they thought they had to add "aaa" to everything you say. So for sometime they were giving directions to auto drivers like this - "Left aa, Right aa"
Anyway, so the guy hangs up and then we go on and he turns to me and asks me "Tamil teriyuma?" (Do you know Tamil?)
And I say, "Konjam" (little)
He shakes his head and I'm sure he's thinking "These non - Tamils"
But he turns round and tells me that he's getting and Indica. He tells me that he's planning to run a taxi. I'm glad he's sharing this with me, someone he met 5 minutes back. He asks me "Is it a good car."
I'm not exactly a car freak, but you dont need to be to answer this simple question.