In a dark cosy corner, listening to the patter of rain courtesy Hurricane Nilam, I am thinking up these sacred thoughts about the Incredible Indian Auto Rickshaw. Right now, I think every truly Indian God, Man, and Beast, is blessed to travel in this incredible three-wheeler that has speed, swerve, snazzle, sound, and fury better than Rajni+ShahenShah+Salman combined. It is the truly Indian transport vehicle that rocks. The hand that rocks the cradle of world civilisation and culture called !ncredible !ndia.
Lest I sound simply funny, let me give you the profundity of my respect.
First, the Vehicle:
If you visit the narrow lanes of Varanasi, the capital of ancient India, you will know that the only vehicle that could sneak through those cow-and bull-infested streets of Shiva's temple town is an auto. If you visit the streets today of Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Pune, Dombivili, Borivili, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Bhawanipore, you will know that you will reach your destination only if you take an Auto. It can steer 270 deg. In a 3-ft radius, go forward and reverse, snake in 3 speeds, overtake anyone anywhere any side and ignore No-Entry or Red Light with absolutely NO second thought. Even where donkeys or buffaloes will pause for thought, the Auto will fly through with no qualms. It is the TRULY liberated Indian vehicle. And by the way, it is an all-weather vehicle, and one that needs no all-weather AC.
Second, the Economics:
The only vehicle which can seat from one to nine people without ANY trouble, carry cargo, animals, 15 school children or four fat ladies for Diwali shopping, is an Auto. It costs less than 2000 dollars to buy. It has a road worthiness of over 25 years (or 2 million miles whichever is less). It has three identical wheels. Have you ever seen an Auto with a flat tyre, or an engine that failed to start?
India has decided to finally harness its ancient forms and modern forms of energy in one hybrid technological solution. Both the mounds of current day garbage and ancient animal dung or gobar will be used to generate gas. Each politician, known for his extreme mastery of gas dispensation, will be allotted a CSIR-licenced manufacturing plant, which will generate lots of gobar gas. The only Indian vehicle already capable of running on gobar gas, a green fuel, is the Auto. Eventually it will cost less than 1 cent per kilometre.
Third, the Spiritual Connection:
The word Auto Rickshaw is composed of these Syllables:
A-Tu-A R-Ksha.
A, the first letter in the Sanskrit alphabet, is the symbol of God ("aksharANAM akArOsmi" Bhagavad Gita 10.33), according to our most sacred texts. The letter Tu is a concession to the English Language, and comes from 'to'. That means that according to ancient Indian wisdom, we all come from Godhood or Brahman, and go back finally to Godhood or Brahman. That is the dharma chakra. The combination of syllables Tu+A gives TO (Sandhi rules of Sanskrit grammar). hence Auto. Indians pronounce it correctly as aatO. Foreigners and NRIs say it with an accent.
The syllable R (it is the seventh vowel in Sanskrit or Devanagari) is a sacred symbol of Truth. R stands for the ultimate reality or truth. Which is changeless and eternal. Hence Gandhi made truth the first principle. He made his second principle Non-violence. The symbol for forgiveness, or peace or non-violence in Sanskrit is KSHA. So the word in Sanskrit dictionary for forgiveness is 'Kshama'. It is the highest virtue in relating to others. Hence the second word of Rickshaw stands for Truth and Non-violence or Forgiveness. These two principles come to us from Krishna, Buddha and Gandhi. They are the basis of our national values.
So you have the most sacred name from Indian scriptures, Auto Rickshaw.
Finally, Futurism:
In pre-twentieth century, man travelled on vehicles with multiple wheels and many legs. Most developed countries are stuck in the 20th century, and travel on four wheels. The number 4 is the symbol of death, ask any Chinese or Indian. Hence that century witnessed massacres and two world wars. The future belongs to the number three, or trinity, sacred in all religious thought. Three wheels it shall be, that will carry man forward. Away from the barbarism of four wheels. Future sedans, solar vehicles, and such will all borrow the idea of 3 wheels from the Indian Auto Rikshaw. I am not talking sci-fi here of MagLev and such.
Some people may snigger, saying that the Auto also stands for the Indian socio-economic track record of not getting anywhere ('from A to A'), and a Rickshaw speed of growth. I don't really argue with such people. I want to stick to my noble thoughts on this wet evening, waiting for November, hearing the patter of rain echoing the Nilam hurricane.
God Speed in all your travels. Take an Auto Rickshaw.
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