Rickshaw ride with my father
Childhood shapes our behaviour and mindset as we evolve into adults. It leaves lifelong impressions on us and as I dive into nostalgia ( most of us are during this pandemic as we spend some time with our families, and hearing our childhood shenanigans from our parents) I have decided to pen down these anecdotes. Here’s my first article for the series that I have decided to call the series “Ricordare” ( It’s Italian for reminiscing/nostalgia).
Somewhere in the late 90s, Varanasi.
Cycle rickshaws are still a common sight in many Indian cities as a decent form of mobility ( e-rickshaw you find these days is the automated version — primarily source of power changed from human to motor).
One particular incidence with my father (or rather every time we used to sit on a rickshaw) I remember very well. Rickshaws require more effort while moving upwards on a hilly/ slanted slope or when the road is damaged.
Every time we reach such slopes or damaged roads with hiccups — my father simply used to step down and start walking. Sometimes, he even used to provide thrust to the rickshaw via his hands by pushing it from the back.
Being a child, I was never convinced by this action. This was a common scene in most of our trips, where I used to remain seated, with my father pushing the rickshaw.
Often, after the ride (or even sometimes in the middle) I used to ask him “Papa, what is the purpose of paying for a rickshaw if you have to walk on your own? Why do we pay them full money for half a ride?”
“Beta (Son), Life is not only about money. What these people do is make our daily life easy. It’s not that if we have paid for a service, we need to overdrive him out. They are also our responsibility and this small act will help us in strengthening his belief in humanity.”
This wasn’t the only upshot though. My father used to ask the person whether he was feeling thirsty or wanted to eat something. Even if he used to refuse everything, my father used to convince him for a biscuit/ sweet and a glass of chill water. They used to share a small conversation before a final Goodbye.
One day, I asked my father “Why don’t we offer him some tips? Or any rich person donates them a lot of money?”
“For his self-respect and dignity. Few of us easily beg, or sit idle and wait for things to change, but here, these people, decide to work hard and earn themselves a living. We cannot offer him a tip to dent his self-respect. However, if you still want to share your part of pocket money as a tip, offer him with some excuse like “have a good cup of tea somewhere, or buy a bar of chocolate for your kid, etc” with the best respect.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
With Ola / Uber, autorickshaws remaining suspended amidst COVID situations, I was wondering if we can also change our behaviour a bit. When we book a cab, why not, greet him with a smile before the ride and ask him about his day if he looks upset a bit.
I think a change in mindset is needed for :
- Those who are commuting with this means of transport — shall appreciate these people are doing a lot of hard work for us. Rather than feeling “as if we own the vehicle after paying”, we should respect them, cooperate and help them perform their duties efficiently.
- Those who are working for any auto-rickshaw or cab services — probably empathize with your customers as well. They are also stressed with their office/family/health issues — never charge them inappropriately just because they need that service at that moment. They shall use this COVID situation as an opportunity to improve their services to a level such that we start using public transport more often.
Let’s be in a better world, post this COVID.
(Leave your views in the comment section)
