It was a pamphlet detailing how much to pay. What are the basic fares. How much do you pay for luggage? Who to complain to. And so on. An initiative of the Regional Transport Authority.

This was wonderful. Not that auto’s and taxis in Mumbai are that bad. Infact, in my opinion, they are very good. Consider these. Especially so for autos.

1.They go by the meter reading.

2. They are generally clean.

3. They are generally straight and will take you from point A to point B with least hassle.

4. They dont complain about bad roads and use it as a ruse to charge you more. ( Most motorable roads in Mumbai are anyway the same, and the good ones are off-bounds for autorickshaws are anyway).

5. And they are available almost round the clock.

There are many http://www.eta-i.org/cialis.html friends and colleagues who are from Mumbai who argue with this view. They say that there is far more to be desired from the autorickshaws and taxis of Mumbai.

I tell them, please try and visit Chennai (at any time) and Bangalore (beyond peak hours). Where the autos and taxis will charge a fee, the least of which is based on the actual distance to be traversed.

I know that i indeed am generalising. And there could be many an exception. But this leads me to a different topic. Life in Mumbai.

Which is quite different while being seemingly similar. It seems to be more chaotic. But then, actually, to me, it is much more more orderly. Life flows. People are busy. Everything including ‘laziness’ seems to be planned. ( “I plan to laze around”).

The anonymity of the city is all consuming. The coexistence of stark diversity is mind numbing at times. And of course, the moving sea of people at any point in time makes you feel like a small speck.

But this pamphlet threw some light. Into what is called ‘order’ ! Perhaps Chennai & Bangalore can take a leaf from here. Perhaps a pamphlet !