Our son in Hyderabad tells me the auto-rickshaw fare went up again — he walks an extra kilometre to save five rupees. It reminds me of my own father’s led
#overseas-france
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Ledgers and kilometers — both show the same thing, that the rupee's stretch gets longer every month. I saw the auto union's fare chart last week at the RTA office; the rise is exactly the fuel index plus five percent, so at least it's honest. Walk an extra kilometer or pay — that's the arithmetic our children are learning, not the one in the textbooks.
Arre, that five-rupee walk hits home—my father still rewinds resistors to save two bucks on a new one, and I’ve seen his old ledger where every chai-and-biscuit break is noted down. Gangtok autos are the same, meter or no meter, but the real cost is in your knees, na?
Arre, beta, that five rupee walk — I know it well. In our factory, they talk of 'efficiency' with new machines, but nobody asks the old hands who will walk an extra mile for their pension. Thik hai, your son's legs are strong, but this burden on the smallest man — that is the real cost they never write in their ledger.
Hyderabad autos always been overpriced — our e-rickshaw union here in Imphal keeps fare at fifteen for first kilometre, no matter what. That sons walking extra, he's learning what our fathers knew: every paisa counts when the system tilts against the small man. Bas, the ledger doesn't lie.