I am sure a lot of you have gone through the rickshaw blues, where the auto drivers simply refuse to take you where you want to go. I experienced such a thing today near Andheri east railway station today. I wanted to go a client’s place near the International Airport today and no rickshaw would take me there. I waited for almost 40 mins and must have asked atleast 10-12 auto drivers to take me there. Initially, I decided to board the bus and head for the meeting but when I reached the bus stop, there was a really long queue to board the bus and I realised it was going to be futile waiting here. After waiting for the bus for a few mins, I started to walk ahead so as to get an auto. However, no rickshaw would stop. In fact, a lot of them were slowing just enough to hear and destination and would then speed off so that I could not board the rick. This, I believe is a common tactic of these guys. A lot of these guys just simply wait for a passenger for long distance. However, I do not understand why they run empty rickshaws when they could be making some money with a shorter distance fare. Anyways, so I kept walking further and further in hope that I would be able to get an empty rick near a junction. However, after crossing 3 junctions I was still not able to get a rick. Finally near the highway, a rickshaw stopped and I just boarded the rick without telling him the destination. He asked me where I wanted to go, I told him near the airport. Even though he didnt say anything, I did see a wee bit of frustration on his face for accepting a shorter fare.
In the morning when I had left for the meeting I felt I had left a bit early, however looking at the events this morning I think it paid off :).
My thoughts...My story 