I am so bored of autos but then they are my lifeline. In my first stint in Hyderabad, this was a life-saver literally. Of course I am not disclosing the princely amount I paid as fares. A lil’ familiarity with types and kinds and areas, saves you a paltry fortune. Company cabs saved much of the groping in the dark. Then, there was a sincere share for the auto guy for the weekend programmes. And Hyderabad does not have a pre-paid system, so the transgressions are expected.
The other long term solution was to stay close to well-connected places. The bus numbers and destinations often don’t match, there is a hell of a difference when one letter is not matched with the desired number - there is a 127K,J,N,P and I don’t remember the others. The city planning and roads beat me, they have a wired pattern, Road no. 1 runs next to 10 and 12. So autos are the safest option to reach where you want without getting scalded.
Some auto-guys are amazing, I tell you! No one ever spoke so politely, with “achchi baat hai” and “ok, madam”. There are also others who won't think twice that their balls could get crushed when they vomit “kahan se aya re”.The other long term solution was to stay close to well-connected places. The bus numbers and destinations often don’t match, there is a hell of a difference when one letter is not matched with the desired number - there is a 127K,J,N,P and I don’t remember the others. The city planning and roads beat me, they have a wired pattern, Road no. 1 runs next to 10 and 12. So autos are the safest option to reach where you want without getting scalded.
My first auto-ride in Hyderabad happened in Ameerpet while house-hunting four winters ago. The guy took us round and round like David’s sling till he forgot how much he had to fleece from us. In fact he was planning to take some of us on a Hyderabad darshan, like we paid attention.
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