Curbs on some cabs is a pointer to the fact that the indiscriminate number of taxis in Delhi and elsewhere has led to an increase in abduction and rape cases. Tracing the advent of taxis it is worth noting that cabs began to ply in the Capital on a limited scale until Connaught Circus came up in the late 1930s. Interestingly enough the first motor car in Delhi was the one bought by Lala Chunna Mal in 1902 or thereabouts. After that some rajas and nawabs too began using cars (instead of buggies and phaetons) but public ownership was not there as horse-driven carriages were still the popular mode of transport, with a large number of hackney carriage stands at various transit points.
The scene changed after World War II broke out and the coming of American GIs. Some enterprising individuals started plying taxis not only in the city but also to destinations like Agra, Jaipur, Dehradun, Mussoorie, later extending to Shimla and Nainital. In the 1940s a number of taxis were plying under the patronage of hotels like Imperial, Maidens, Cecil and Swiss and hackney carriage stands near them gradually began to turn into taxi stands. By the time the war ended there was a taxi service worth mentioning. Came Partition and the wealthier refugees showed great enterprise in entering the taxi business. The tongas that plied from Connaught Place to Old Delhi and to Karol Bagh on the other side, began to give way to taxis. By the 1950s Delhi had a good enough taxi service though not as extensive as the one in Bombay and Calcutta. It has been about 75 years since the first taxis started operating and are still popular despite the cheaper autos, e-rickshaws and the metro.
The hackney carriage stand on the erstwhile Ludlow Castle Road (now Raj Niwas Marg) continues to be a taxi stand but the ones at Regharpura and outside New Delhi Station are no more. Incidentally the few taxis which plied on Rouse Avenue were quite popular with loving couples and the avenue came to be known as Lover’s Lane but surprisingly enough there were no kidnapping cases. O. P. Jain of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage was one of those who frequented the avenue and, as an octogenarian now, has nostalgic memories of those times. One name that stands out among the old taxi drivers is that of Madan Lal, who learned to drive a car under the stern guidance of a British sahib in pre-Partition Lahore, where the taxi service from Anarkali was in full swing. Later Madan Lal started driving a taxi in Delhi and became just as popular as Kale Khan, the tonga driver who was educated enough to type out petitions on behalf of other tongawallahs . Kale Khan died as a nonagenarian while Madan Lal passed away in his 80s some years ago. Both are still remembered by old-timers. A. E. Finamore, a school principal, was very fond of Kale Khan as he went in his tonga to meet his girlfriend in younger days. Kale Khan’s father had bought the horses and stables of Col. Salvadore Smith of the Gwalior Army after the colonel (1783-1871) died, never seeing a car in his life-time.
Haji Faiyazuddin recalls that private taxis were the first to make their appearance in Delhi. Besides them, there was motor transport in the form of Rama Bus Service, Capital Bus Service and Delhi-Dehat Bus Service. The Gwalior-Scindia Transport Company came later. The fare was just Rs.Two to Nizamuddin by taxi while buses charged just an anna . That was the time when one paid Rs.2.50 as taxi fare to go from the Walled City to the Qutub and back and Rs.2 for both ways to Okhla and Nizamuddin. Besides the trams, introduced in the first decade of the 20th Century, there was an electric bus service from Lahore Gate to Sadar Bazar and beyond.
Madan Lal, wearing his khaki uniform and bemoaning the rise in land prices, used to recall that once he took a sahib to the Gole Dakhana church, who gave him a ten-rupee note and when he ran after him to return the change the gora waved his walking stick at him thinking that he wanted more. His son, Sohan Lal, who lived in Beriwalah Bagh, recounted how an English lady hired his taxi up to her club and after paying the fare took him inside for lunch as she wanted someone to speak to her in Hindustani, which she was trying to learn. Such were the innocent pleasures of those times when human values counted for a lot and taxis were the safest conveyance for both foreigners and locals with no incidents of rape, robbery or abduction. What a sad contrast to present times!
