During an exchange programme with a school in France, I noticed something I had never noticed before - rickshaws do not have doors!The first time I went in a rickshaw with my French correspondent, my eyes widened. How comfortable would she feel? Would she be afraid of a vehicle like this without doors? I glanced sideways at her.But like a true exchange student, she had come with an open mind. I saw her steel herself and deliberately remain silent with respect to this doorless wonder.I breathed a sigh of relief.Inside the rickshaw, she looked around, confused."What happened?" I asked.She looked at me in horror. "There are no seatbelts?" … [Read more...]
Cycle Rickshaw
When I went to Kolkata for my entrance exams, I stayed with a friend's family. The first day there, Uncle took me in a cycle rickshaw. He warned me, "Don't pay more than 8 rupees to these rickshaw-wallahs. They'll charge you anything. They know you don't come from Calcutta."I listened and nodded and cringed as the rickshaw-wallah bumped us over steep slopes and potholes. His lungi was torn. He was barefoot.Uncle dropped me at the university and went home.To get home myself, I diffidently approached a cycle rickshaw. If I knew my way home, I know I would simply have walked. "Golf Green?" I asked, hopefully.The man lowered his eyes. Realising I definitely did not speak Bangla, he said for me in Hindi, "Bees (20) rupaya."I nodded gratefully. I cringed and clenched my hands as he laboured all the way home.When I reached, Uncle asked how much I paid."Eight rupees," I said, … [Read more...]