As a resident of Chennai, I got to experience something for the first time the other day: riding in a share auto. After having got into one, I realised that people don’t know a good bargain when they see one. Anyone who spends hefty amounts in search of thrills and weight loss has been wasting their money. There’s a one-stop solution for these problems — share auto. Let me explain:
It’s cost effective: It’s definitely much cheaper than any sport or weight-loss cream.
It’s a three-in-one combo: You get your adrenalin rush, lose weight, and get to travel to any place in the city at the same time.
It’s educational: You get to learn new words that you can use the next time you want to scream at someone.
It teaches us compassion: It doesn’t matter even if the auto was filled to bursting point; a share auto driver never refuses a ride to anyone. They are so helpful and sympathetic that they ask people to sit on someone else’s lap to make space for the newcomer. If that isn’t kindness…
It’s a weight-reducer: You just need to get a corner seat in a crowded share auto. Every time the vehicle swerves, you are squeezed to a smaller size. If you’re really lucky you will find a corner seat in a crowded auto, the ride will be long, the roads terrible, and the driver will be an aspiring Michael Schumacher…
It offers real-time thrills: The element of suspense that surrounds the question of whether the auto will get hit by the lorry driving dangerously close to it or the bus that’s been moving neck-to-neck with it is definitely more intense than anything Final Destination could hope to achieve.
It makes a person spiritual: When you finally get off the auto, after you’ve seen your life and the faces of your loved ones flash in front of your eyes umpteen times and are able to simply breathe freely, you begin to truly understand and appreciate the joy of being alive and the importance of something we always take for granted: air.
Even if you don’t usually travel by share auto, try it at least once. I promise you won’t regret it (because you’ll be too busy trying to get your blood circulation back in your limbs to bother about something as trivial as regret). Parkour and paragliding, watch out. Share auto rides are here to stay.
DEEPIKA ATHINARAYANAN, I Year, Dr. M.G.R. University Educational and Research Institute
