On three wobbly wheels

Laxmi Birajdar tries her hand at driving an autorickshaw and derives a 8216;kick8217; of an unexpected kind from the adventure

Who would have guessed that hitting the road on a small, decrepit black-and-yellow vehicle on three little wheels would pose such a giant-sized challenge? It was my very first, and for sure last, shot at driving an autorickshaw and the going was much tougher than I expected!

In all my years of hopping in and out of autorickshaws, I had never given the vehicle much thought. It was different this time around. How safe would this three-wheeled contraption be? My heart was somewhere in my mouth. But I knew there was no getting out of this one. Not when I had volunteered for the task.

Raju Kamble, the owner and driver of the autorickshaw, could obviously sense my nerves. 8220;Don8217;t worry. Hop in and take charge. It8217;s like riding a scooter on three wheels,8221; he said. His confidence was mildly infectious and I gingerly stepped in to get acquainted with the complicated machine.

8220;Pehle kick, phir acceleration, uske baad pehla gear,8221; Kamble instructed me. He made itnbsp;sound so simple. I pulled on the 8216;kick8217; with all my might. It got jammed. I ended up pulling a muscle on my shoulder. 8220;Gaadi gear mein hai, isi liye atak gayi. Kick ko free karo,8221; Kamble pointed out. It was Greek to me. I asked him to simplify the instructions. Kamble fiddled with the gears on the handles. Now I could pull it and the autorickshaw was ready to go.

Kamble, crouched uncomfortably next to me, instructed me to rev up. I did, but no signs of life. 8220;Gear to daalo, madam. Yeh aapki scooty nahi hain,8221; said Kamble.

So, a push on the first gear upwards, followed by a gradual release of the clutch and simultaneous acceleration and glory be, we were actually moving forward.

Kamble8217;s instructions kept flying fast and furious. The vehicle was at full throttle now. Thankfully, the road was clear and my test drive wasn8217;t endangering lives. We cruised a fair distance. 8220;Ab turn kaise maru?8221; I asked Kamble, now sitting in the passenger8217;s seat. Decrease acceleration, switch from fourth to the third to the second gear and halt with the foot on the break at the base, he replied. Much to my surprise, I performed the action pretty decently. The joyride was repeated up and down the wide road at least five times.

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Next we were stuck at a cul-de-sac. 8220;Ab reverse!8217;8217; rasps Kamble, which meant getting down and pushing the vehicle back. Even as Kamble pushed the rickshaw, he joked: you can8217;t let the passenger get out and push the vehicle when it stops.

Ignoring the odd glances thrown at me by passers-by, I resumed my lessons. Another zor ka jhatka and the auto started. I was thrilled to the point of taking one turn after the next, downing the metre at least six times consecutively to celebrate.

My palms were red and aching by the end of the exercise. Kamble seemed relieved to get his baby back in one piece. I had the same sentiments for my person. nbsp;Well, at least I did not knock down anyone on the road, I told myself. However I was suitably reformed. I swore I would never scream at an autorickshaw driver again.

I now know: driving a tuk tuk isn8217;t easy. Take it from someone who8217;s been there, done that and will never do it again!

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METRE-DOWN TIPS
The jhatka on the kick is directly proportionate to the pain you8217;ll experience in the shoulder later in the day.
Get your turns right. If you don8217;t, you might topple over and, given it8217;s Pune in the monsoons, it can get dirty and debilitating.
Make sure to wrestle with the gears as much as possible. Even if they break, you8217;ve learnt what not to do with them.
Even if you don8217;t get the halt right, make sure you have a safe object in the end to bang into. The auto might get damaged8212;a little bit8212;but you won8217;t.