A
pale haggard ol’ man in a worn-out lungi, with expectant eyes, was waiting
ardently for some good customer, to take to his cycle rickshaw amidst the hoard
of prying autodrivers vying with one another, and ploughing their way through the
passenger-arrival terminus of the Madurai Railway Station.
It
was 6 am by my watch!
A
Symbiosis ‘Management’ degree should 'really' prove handy for any sane passenger to 'manage' the throng of
auto-drivers who are there at every vantage point making sure you don’t escape
their prying eyes and trying mannerisms in the melee!
 |
| 15 March 2016 Arasarady |
After
judiciously and sagaciously circumventing and at last navigating with considerable knack and elan through the labyrinthine of the autowallahs’ fervent appeals and cries for a ‘savari’, I managed to cross
the road across the railway station, to go have a cuppa Coffee at the famed
Coffee house adjacent to the Meenakshi Amman Temple Road, when…
A
cycle-rickshaw-wallah walks up to me with wistful eyes, to accept his rickshaw
ride!
For
a moment I was in a double bind! Should I go for the coffee or take the cycle-rickshaw
just to make happy the rickshaw wallah! This is the pale haggard ol’ man in a
worn-out lungi, with expectant eyes!
'Arasaradi
evlo anna? (how much for arasaradi, brother?)'
Fifty
rupees anna.
'Okay.'
Auto-drivers
were (probably) wonderstruck or thunderstruck, when they saw me taking to a
cycle-rickshaw, after having eluded their convincing rhetorical tactics!
I
climb into the cycle-rickshaw, and placed myself comfortably in the nicely made-up coir-cushion, when i had one surreptitious glance at his legs as he
was riding along – and I was shocked to find the varicose veins widened, bulging
and twisted beyond measure in both his calf muscles!!!
Now,
a flood or a barge of nostalgic memories of our childhood days, came crowding into my mind - when, once upon a
lovely time, the cycle-rickshaw wallah was the ultimate, trustable and
indispensable part of our school days, for parents to get their children in
safety and in security to the school. The rickshaw-wallah not only gets you down his vehicle,
but also makes sure he holds your slender hands with his rugged palms, and
safely gets you walking down the aisle in the school premises – the promised
Land!
How
soon has the ‘thief of time’ stolen away the lustre of the cycle-rickshaw
wallahs?
How soon have people forgotten this three-wheeled wonder of yore, with a foldable-sun-roof
which also doubles up as a two-seater for the grown-ups among the kids?
Where
else can one find a beautiful bell tethered to a rope at the beck and call of
the rickshaw wallah, sandwiched ‘awesomely’ between the bridge and the tyre of
the central axis that goes downward?
How
soon?
As
I was on a ‘reminiscence-drive’ mode, the rickshaw-wallah hauled me back to my
senses by starting on a conversation:
‘Why
did you take a room all the way in arasaradi, anna? You coud’ve taken it
somewhere near the railway station’.
‘Yes,
but that’s where my hosts have booked me a room!’
Once
the railway overbridge bridge came, he found the going really tough, and so I offered
to get down and walk a decent 500 metres across the bridge. I must’ve been an
amusement to inquisitive and curious eyes, who saw me, and the rickshaw, and the
rickshaw puller in periodic successive turns and felt as much pity for me as
they must’ve for my bird-brain!
After
a walk through the steep climb, [near Periyar Bus Stand/Maalai Malar Office],
he asked me to hop in, and, as I was ‘disposed to be gregarious’ this morning,
I continued on the conversation with him.
Cycle
rickshaws have declined in customer patronage now-a-days, right?
Yes,
sir. I hardly find customers. Getting at least five customers a day is a big
deal these days.
‘What’s
the main reason?’
Well,
apart from the convenience of a motorized rickshaw, old people find it quite hard
to climb the steep steps to get into the cycle rickshaw, and since there are potholes or
cesspools in some parts of the road, rickshaws tend to vibrate a lot, and give
the shudder to the passenger, cos we don’t have those high
techno-shock-absorbers for our ordinary cycle-rickshaws that you find in autos
and other taxis.
Is
the income that you get, sufficient for you?
God’s
benevolence, I can manage. Somehow, life goes on…
‘You
have any savings on you?’
A
little.
‘How
long do you plan to continue to work like this?’
‘As
long as my hands and my feet oblige and obey me, I want to work, work and work!!!’
By
now, my alighting place had come, and I had to wind up on my talk and asked
him, according to the way of the world, for his number!
No
‘pone’ and all for me, sir!
'Just
wanted to meet you and have a ride with you next time when I come to Madurai. That’s
why I asked you anna!'
On
the College House Road, to the second left, I will be sitting there near an old
cobbler’s. that’s been my stand for long. Most of my ol’ friends are no more.
Just three of us old timers remain,’ he said.
His
words literally wrenched my heart!
Gave
him at least many times more than he had asked me.
He
just looked at me in awe, and he said,
Thank
you anna. God bless you, he says.
‘Anna,
can I have a photo of you?’ I asked him.
‘kandipa!’
(sure) and he obliged me.
After
alighting at the Residency in Arasarady, I checked into my room, and after
fifteen minutes I came out in casuals for a cuppa hot vegetable soup that is
famous in this part of Madurai, when I was surprised to see the rickshaw-wallah
still on his rickshaw, looking towards the door of the Residency. I was quite
surprised!
 |
| the vegetarian soup haunt near Arasarady [15 March 2016] |
‘Anna,
waiting for someone? I asked with inquisitive eyes!'
He
had somehow found a chit of paper in his pocket, in which he scribbled his name
and his son’s mobile number.
Next
time when you come to Madurai, you should surely call me! See you anna!
I
was touched to the core at his love.
I
left his rickshaw, with sighs that lie too deep for a description!
My
mind started working overtime straightaway on a few thoughts related to the rickshaw-wallahs
and their lives, and how society responds to their plight in general. In
West Bengal, the government has interfered to set up loan facilities for
rickshaw-wallahs to shift to mechanized rickshaws or to autorickshaws. Once the
loan is paid in full, the autorickshaw belongs to them. Bangladesh, which is
considered the ‘rickshaw capital of the world’ has doled out largesse for the
rickshaw wallahs by the dozen!
It’s
time NGOs with the assistance of the Government/Voluntary organizations, steps
in to address the problems of a dying clan or at least give a sympathetic ear
to their complaints!
A
clan that once strode the giant streets and roads of all parts of our good ol’
country India with elan and with grandeur!
Let’s
regale the good ol’ rickshaw-wallahs in our own way, by being responsive to
their predicament! And let’s start the movement rightaway!
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