Chennai autos

I have not used the famous chennai autos for quite a while. I have been having newspaper knowledge about the great rigmarole of electronic metres, protests and strike by auto drivers, police coming down heavily on erring auto drivers and of late there has been silence in the print media.. So I believed that finally autos of chennai have really become the passenger friendly folk that one dreamt of.
Yesterday I had pleasant surprise. The first auto I hailed was a pleasant faced chap and I said QMC and he nodded and flagged the metre down. I was stunned, I dont remember when was the last time I had such a earth shattering experience! He did not utter a single word, he drove patiently and followed traffic rules. He dropped me at QMC with the metre showing 85 rupees.I had guessed it should cost me a hundred rupees, and I was also pleased with the journey, so gave him 100 rupees and was alighting from the auto. He fished out ten rupees from his pocket and gave it to me. I said it is okay, keep the change. He literally thrust the ten rupees in my hand, and sped off! Miracle! One of a kind.

I was nicely spoilt by this experience, so today morning I spot a stationery autorickshaw. I tell him QMC. He looks at me as if I am speaking Latin. I said college, Raani mary kalloori. He said 'enga, beach road a". I said yes. He said give 20 rupees more than the metre. I said no and moved off. He was not moved and continued sitting pretty and gazing around. I flagged another auto and he was quick to recognise the destination and said pleasantly and with a bit of reticence, 20 rupees above the metre. I said no, he said 10 rupees, I said no, and got in. I gave him a bit of my mind, and said petrol prices have come down, so why do you want to be paid above the metre. He was a bit timid, so kept silent. He drove well and when I got down the metre showed 95 rupees. I gave him 100 rupees and walked off.

This experience was repeated on my return.

My conclusion about chennai auto scene:

1) There are some really decent auto drivers: they behave well, they drive as per road rules, they dont talk unnecessarily, their autos have correct metre readings, they insist on being paid by the metre and nothing more. Not an extinct species that we all feared, sometime back.

2) Majority of them are still well behaved, are a little hesitant to ask for extra and can be cajoled to make the trip and accept any extra the passenger is willing to pay.

3) The 'standing still and not budging from their seat' auto drivers are still on the scene. But I believe, the foul mouthing auto drivers have been chastened to keep their mouths shut.

Will come back to you with updates if there is any marked change from this narration.