The stolen rickshaw
On another day, I really wanted to go around the Pondicherry streets and do the full round, which is about three miles. So I approached another rickshaw driver.This man said that the flat rate was 20 rupees per hour. Everything was settled. I got in and we covered one mile without any incident. Then somebody came up beside us and started screaming at the rickshaw driver. Why? It seems that this fellow had stolen his rickshaw. There were about ten rickshaws stationed near my place. Without telling the real driver, this elderly man had taken a rickshaw that was in very good condition. Now the real owner was screaming at him like anything. This happened 200 metres away from Alo’s old place.
The owner wanted the old man to leave the rickshaw there and return to the starting point to get his own rickshaw so that we could continue our journey. Then I got mad. I said, “What do I know about this? He will take me back. Then you can punish him or do anything you want. But I am not going to leave this rickshaw. I am not going to come down.”
When I screamed at the real owner, he got frightened. So he allowed the old man to take me back.
Then the old man surrendered the rickshaw to its rightful owner and said to me, “You wait here. I am going only 100 metres away to bring my rickshaw.”
O God, I waited 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. After 20 minutes he came back. By that time I was disgusted, so I went back home. This was another rickshaw experience.
