Rickshaws

Since I seem to be on a transportation theme, I should talk about ricshaws, or rics, as they are more commonly called. These are little three wheeled motorized taxis, I have mentioned them before. When you take a ric, you “ric it up.” They are banned downtown, but they go most other places around the city. If you need to go somewhere out in the suburbs where I am living, usually you take a ric. To flag one down, you just stand by the side of the road and hold up your hand like you are hailing a cab, or, since a lot of the roads are so narrow, you just make eye contact with a driver and he will stop. You tell the driver where you want to go. 19 times out of 20 the driver will be willing to take you, but every now and then they don’t want to go that way, or that isn’t far enough, and you have to look for another. But if the driver is willing to take you, he will say ok or give a quick (somewhat ambiguous) nod to the back seat, which means get in (I have learned). Then you are off!
It seems that ric drivers do not distinguish themselves from the drivers of other forms of transport in Mumbai with their defensive driving skills, awareness of safety, or respect for human life. Instead they jostle about, competing with cars and buses for space, with as much disregard for traffic laws as everyone else. But at least they can’t go quite as fast as cars. Not that they don’t try. The ric drivers pretty much try to get as far as they can as fast as they can however they can. I feel as though it must be a matter of personal pride for a driver, to beat the other drivers across the road, down the street, through the light. I need to learn how to tell them that I’m not in a hurry.
There is a lot of congestion here (lots of people = lots of people who want to go places = lots of cars/motorbikes/rics/bikes/pedestrians). However, the roads are clear when I ric it to the train station early Sunday morning to get to work. And with the roads free of the plaque of other people, the drivers just fly- they really let loose and go. I think they must really like it when there are no other vehicles on the road. Vroom!
There is a video game waiting to be written here (“Ric Race” “Ric Rough Riders” or something) because it feels a little like you are in a video game when they take you racing down the streets, veering around other rics and cars, stopping suddenly to avoid a collision, speeding around obstacles. You can’t see actually see a whole lot of what is going on from the back seat, because of the low roof, and that is probably best. A lot of what you can see is sort of a blur anyway. But there seems to be a lot of exciting driving going on.
The ric drivers size each other up at lights, easing forward and rocking back, inching ahead or aggressively blocking other rics. They eye each other while racing down the street too, much the same way I would guess jockeys do; vying for position. I hope that soon I find this amusing, instead of alarming.
During rush hour, when they are stuck waiting in a big group at a light that is taking a really long time, they do also chat amiably with each other. They’ll glance over at another driver and strike up a conversation, maybe about the price of gasoline, or the fastest way to get to some other neighborhood, or the best way to drive over a median. At least that’s what it looks like. Who knows- maybe they are arguing viciously about who cut off who, I don’t speak Hindi. But if they are arguing, they are doing it amicably.
Most rics are black with a little yellow. I saw one the other day that had a bright pink top. The one I rode in this morning was purple. Often the dash is decorated with a little god figurine or god sticker and a fresh garland of little orange flowers that kids walk around in traffic selling. This is kind of fun, but it makes me a little nervous. I worry that maybe the drivers put a little too much faith in their dashboard gods.
There are a lot of rics around the neighborhood where I live, up north. Downtown there are taxis, no rics. I have taken more rics than taxis, since when I go out of my neighborhood to the downtown office I generally take the train. Hence, I have not had as much experience with taxis, but I have taken a couple. And I will say one thing about them- they are an odd experience at night. I had to take one home from the downtown office the other day, and I noticed that a lot of the cabs have a blue light in their ceiling that the cab drivers turn on at night. I am not exactly sure why they do this, but it gives the carpeting that coats the inside of the cab a distinctly lurid feel. And yes, that is right, I did say carpeting. The entire interiors of most of the cabs here are in covered in carpeting. It is mildly strange. The doors, floor, ceiling, dash, even the ledge below the rear window are all covered in the type of carpeting you would see near the concession stand at a roller skating rink or a bowling alley.

*****
A List of Animals I have seen in this City:
3 elephants
7 cows
4-5 goats
6 horses
Lots of crows
Several cats
Way too many dogs
3 roosters
Lots of hens (for sale in pens)
1 pig
1 very tall dog with the most bizarre markings i have ever seen on a dog, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a goat.
1 very small lizard
Many bugs