My dear auto uncle
K.N. MURALI SANKAR
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School children have a special place for this character who figures largely in their life.
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PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR
Firm friends: The auto driver and the students
Reopening of schools is a gala time for children, as they will have new friends, teachers and textbooks. Among the new friends, the first one is “auto uncle!” The day begins with mothers telling their children: “Wake up fast, auto uncle will not wait for you.” Honking of the auto-rickshaw horn is like a siren for many students, who even forgo their breakfast and run out with their schoolbags. “I make it a point to feed breakfast to my daughter
before the auto-rickshaw comes. Otherwise, she won’t take anything till lunch break,” says A. Geetha of New RTC Colony.
Daily reflections
But, how do auto uncles feel about carrying schoolchildren in their three-wheelers? “It is fun,” says P. Amareswara Rao of Satyanarayanapuram, who has been ferrying children in his vehicle for the past seven years. “Thanks to traffic jams, I spend at least an hour with them daily. I enjoy their quarrels and teasing,” he says.
While two children have regularly been boarding his auto-rickshaw for the last three years, the other four have chosen his vehicle this year.
“Their names are difficult to spell. I can’t even remember them. But, what is in a name?” he asks, sounding like Shakespeare.
T. Kumar, a driver from Bharathi Nagar, complains that children ask him to play songs on his record player during their travel. “The problem is that they divide into two groups and they never come to a consensus on which hero’s songs they want to listen,” he says, recollecting the kids’ pranks.
“Children in my auto-rickshaw are chatter boxes. They discuss different issues from cricket to cinema and about headmistress to attender. I learn several new issues by listening to their conversation,” says Sheik Basha of Yanamalakuduru. “They are in Stds. V and VI, but their knowledge is vast. I did not know anything when I was of their age. They are very smart,” he says with pride reflecting in his voice, as though he is talking about his own children.
Opinions about each child’s behaviour may differ, but all auto uncles are unanimous in their view that students of kindergarten are more disciplined than those of higher classes.
“Children of lower classes heed our advice and follow our instructions. But it is difficult to control the students of senior classes. We have to be friendly with them. If we get annoyed with them, they complain to their parents against us,” says D. Raja Rao of Madhura Nagar.
“Changing from one school to another seems to be the latest trend. Children do not seem to study in any school for at least three years at a stretch.
Some children leave for other places even in the middle of the academic year, as their parents are in transferable jobs,” he observes. Needless to say, such migrations make a dent into the monthly income of auto uncles.
“We have to wait for children in the morning and evening. We can earn more by using this waiting period by carrying commuters. But, school service provides us a fixed monthly income. Besides this, we can also enjoy the company of tiny tots every day,” says B. Venkat Reddy of Gunadala.
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