AUTO AUTO!

"bhai, lewis road?? "

thirty minutes ago pa had called up and he had forgot his laptop back at home and he needed it asap. a friend dropped me at rajmahal square and from there, i had to take an auto to his office. it was three-thirty in the afternoon and a hot(and humid)April day when i was standing in the corner of the chowk waiting for an auto. There were autos parked beside the pavements, some were bereft of the waallahs while the drivers of some were enjoying their afternoon siestas. Thus, no running auto was plying. 16 calls from pa and twenty minutes later, i caught hold of one.
Autorickshaws(and their autowaallahs) are really special to the city of Bhubaneswar. Its like the majority of the citizens here depend on them. One day there are on strike and then its kind of a public holiday. The autowallahs are even more colorful than their lives are.Their colloquial accent, their street attire and the Oriya numbers they play in their vehicles, its just fab, its awesome, its Orissa !
Not just the lower classes of the society, there are many people in the city who do jobs as an autowaallah to eke out a living.I've seen a student or two riding autos to pay their university fees. Its like, every Munna or Raaja or surendra bhai has a story to tell. Even I've met a pink-slipped engineer who used to work for a small firm in the city now riding an auto for a living.
ten minutes later i was at the reception of my dad's office.

I: "Mr.Acharya please?"
an intercom call and a moment later
R: "he'll be here any moment now..ah! there he is"
I: "thanks! "
R: "good day!"



this post in a tribute to surendra bhai. Surendra is a autorickshaw driver in my locality currently pursuing his LLB long distance from utkal University. He dreams of becoming a good lawyer and supporting his parents who were ditched by his two elder brothers.

A month ago, he appeared his final exams and hopes that he will clear it with distinction.

Surendra bhai! Peace to you...