This is an ad appearing in newspapers, a public service ad by the Delhi Police. When I first saw this picture, my immediate attention went to that auto wala in the picture. 5 years of my stay in Chennai have made me hate them to the utmost degree. They look like extortionist to me. There have been very few occasions in which I happily parted out with the money. The meters are doctored so never ever go my meter in Chennai. Plus being non-Tamilian is a big factor, it basically multiplies the fare my 1.5 or even 2. There have been few incidents worth of a mention-
1. I was returning from Chennai Central at around 11 in the night. I thought of taking the local train back but to my surprise the local train station was already deserted. A peeing auto wala saw me, somehow managed to put everything back and approached me. After few minutes of haggling we were finally off.
I figured out later that he was drunk! I froze. The ride was like a roller coaster; swaying on either sides, buses barely managing to avoid collisions and on the top of that his FM Mirchi was in full volume. Thankfully he was able to differentiate red and green so we did stop at the right signals. I wonder why I didn’t get down and take another auto.
We finally managed to reach my destination and the real drama began. He refused to accept the amount that he previously agreed on, wanted 50 bucks more. I got irritated so I left the money on the pavement and started leaving. He went mad and started to pull my hands. There was no one around as it was already midnight. But this didn’t deter me from my adamant stand. I kept ignoring him and he kept following me. Finally he went back to his auto and raced with it towards me in full speed. Shiver ran through my body! He stopped few inches away and again demanded money. This time I gave him another 10 more and ran towards my institute gate.
2. I, along with 3 of my friends, boarded a shared auto to the next bus stop agreeing to pay Rs. 5 per head. But he wanted us to get down at a traffic signal which was before the stop. We agreed but gave him only Rs. 2 per head and left. He charged towards us with dissent. He kept arguing in Tamil, which I don’t understand a word. He was a fanatic who could have killed someone for few bucks. I too wanted to fight but my friends pulled me back and plus we were in party mood, who would like to ruin that over few bucks. At one instant he was accumulating spit so as to scare me!
Iran seems to have a solution for Women’s Paradise
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran is seeking to create a paradise for female tourists by turning an island on a northwestern lake into male-free zone, the press reported on Wednesday.
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All public transport, restaurants and facilities on the island — on the gigantic Oroumiyeh lake close to the Turkish border — will be staffed only by women, officials said
The initiative has even been cleared by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s provincial representative, who declared that a women-only island is not against Islamic sharia law, the official said.
Iran’s Islamic codes strictly prohibit exposure of unveiled women to men.
Iran has already partitioned parts of its southern and northern beaches as women-only zones where women can legally remove their headscarves and overcoats in freedom.
In some cities, there are also special “women parks”.

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I read in news that a man was beaten to death for trying to stop eve-teasers. I was shocked to know that!
You were brave to not pay up, especially at that wee hour of night and when confronted by a drunk driver! Glad you got out safe.
Hi Shaarique, tried posting this on ur IM post on disrespecting the national flag but failed. first of all disrespecting the flag is stupid and the guilty should be charged as per the law. however, its not an uncommon incident. indian flag is burned and trampled on very regularly in kashmir. i think to say that ‘many people would have lost lives’ had it been a muslim doing it is just sensetionalism. many terrorist attackes have happened recently to provoke hindus (and muslims too) to start riots but no riots have taken place. so ur concerns are an excellent case of damaging a very valid point ( a muslim would have surely created more sensational news and drawn criticism) by unnecessary exaggeration.
and to think anil ambani is an MP!!!
pls delete this post from here. sorry for the trbl.
trip,
I wonder why you couldn’t. You need to register with an email id to post comments there.
I dont know if you were brave or foolish with the drunk driver!! those madras autowallas are just beasts. at least in packs, thats what they remind me of. pathetic chaps. i recently read that they’ve doubled fares in madras. i guess that means a 300% increase in autowalla-farecharts.
So called eve-teasing is a euphemism, a shame on India.
mahi,
Yes they have increased the fare by almost double. They are lions when they are in a group!! My sincere advice is to avoid them.
sharique, i’ve almost always avoided them, inspite of being able to pay their costs. they just do not give you a peaceful ride. as crowded as buses are, i feel better in them than feeding these worse-than-unionised-monopolist-thugs.
And your email id indicates that you once lived in Alakananda hostel in IITM, right?
yup. its been a while, but hostel loyalities die hard i suppose.
which hostel are you in?
I am in Godav. You might want to see the hostel nite videos here
http://www.shaarique.com/videos
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