Auto-rogues

This has been going on for far too long. And it has to stop. A monster mob has been born out of state apathy and pure foolishness. Now every single citizen is held a hostage to this totally unruly and violent horde of rogue auto-drivers that have been let loose in the city.

Who are these? They all come from the lower rung of the society but now they have  all, to a man, turned into vicious beasts. And the peculiar thing is that these auto-drivers operate  in this murderous fashion only in the city of Calcutta. In no other city in India do auto-drivers get away with this sort of violent behaviour with passengers. Why is this so unique only to Calcutta then?

The animal strength and arrogance that the auto-drivers display in Calcutta is because they enjoy a political patronage that is unthinkable elsewhere. Together they form a huge vote-bank which the political parties cannot afford to ignore. But at what cost? The time is high that the political parties should listen to the ground-swell of discontent and anger that is arising in the minds of ordinary citizens. The politicians can ill afford to disregard this growing anger and frustration among the countless thousands of the citizens of Calcutta.

When autos were first introduced in the city, they came fitted with meters and they used to run on a carriage-permit basis. Like taxis one could hire an auto and take it anywhere in the city. But then came a different system, the state-permit system. Meters were taken off autos and fixed routes were demarcated. Autos would now operate only on specific routes they were assigned. Autos could now take passengers on a shuttle basis charging each single passenger the rates fixed for the routes. Each auto would now carry four (sometimes even five) passengers on those fixed routes as they would keep going up and down these fixed routes from starting to the end points. At the end of each route, starting or end point, these autos would converge and stand in long lines awaiting passengers. What happened is that these auto-drivers started becoming a sort of club among themselves forming into large groups which stood unified against any passenger that dared to question any auto-driver regarding their rates or the way they would drive recklessly endangering their limbs and lives. Over the years their arrogance have grown to an intolerable level as they know that they are beyond reproach and any police action. They can do just about anything on the road and there's nobody to question their might.

As I see it the only solution in hand is to disband these groups. That can only be done by re-introducing the meter system and discontinuing the shuttle system. If these autos are made to run as before, like ordinary taxis, and not like buses on fixed routes, that may solve the problem. As soon as fixed route shuttle ferrying is stopped, the starting points of these routes will disappear. There wouldn't be any more congregation of auto-drivers at any one point where they could fraternise and make themselves into a close-knit community. It is these close-knit communities that are the basis of their untrammeled strength and power. If the  foundation is knocked out of existence these auto-drivers will operate singly like taxis. They will then be forced to accept a passenger and  take him to any part of the city. And the passenger will have to pay what the meter shows. The 'togetherness' of the auto-drivers, that is the root cause of their arrogance and might, will thus disappear.

This is what I have thought of as perhaps the only way we can rid ourselves of the menace. Autos in other cities run on carriage-permit basis with meters, just like taxis. And there's no trouble there. Only in Calcutta the trouble has started with the auto-drivers growing in menace because they are allowed to run their autos as a shuttle service and  on a state-licence basis, like buses on fixed routes. This has to go.

But will the Government listen?

Death of a Woman.

A woman died. Under tragic and mysterious circumstances.

Yes the woman was beautiful, a drop-dead gorgeous number. And she was married to a high ranking Union Minister, no less glamorous himself and an internationally acclaimed author. And the news hit the entire nation like a bomb-shell. The private and very personal grief of the bereaved husband went viral giving rise to a myriad speculations and conjectures. Add to all of that the hovering presence of another glamour babe, a  female journalist from a neighbouring not too friendly country, and what we have is all the ingredients of a pot boiler of a mystery that would make a nail-biting PD James novel.

What I ask myself and also the media is that is nothing sacred? The drumming up of this frenzy of speculation surrounding the sudden and unexpected death of a woman is entirely media-made. There's no doubt. And what of the shattered husband? Does anybody even care ? Instead of being left alone  to deal with this terrible loss with his personal friends and family, the hapless husband is now in the eye of the media blizzard: was he involved in this death? was it a suicide that had been "aided and abetted" by the spat that the couple were having over the third woman? All kinds of rumours are flying about. Couldn't the media tone it down while reporting of this awful tragedy? But that was not to be. Each publication had to fan the flames of the imagination of its readers to a fever pitch of the most lurid possibilities.

This is yellow journalism at its worst.