Give it to the Japs...whatever they do they do it in style......
.........whether it is geishagiri, harakiri, origami, ikebana, or kamikaze....
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It seems that Japs found horses costlier than men and so invented the first rickshaw (don't quarrel with me..).......
......and Calcutta whole-heartedly adopted it.
There are two photos of rickshaws in Japan and two of Calcutta in Wikipedia while the rest of the world finds just an honorable mention. And under 'India' heading Calcutta is the sole entry:
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Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickshaw
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India
"As of 2005, the last sizable fleet of rickshaws can be found in Kolkata (Calcutta), where the rickshaw puller union resisted prohibition. Several major streets have been closed to rickshaw traffic since 1972, and in 1982 the city seized over 12,000 rickshaws and destroyed them. In 1992, it was estimated that over 30,000 rickshaws were operating in the city, all but 6,000 of them illegally, lacking a license (no new licenses have been issued since 1945). The large majority of rickshaw pullers rent their rickshaws for a few dollars per shift. They live cheaply in hostels, trying to save money to send home.."
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Wiki does mention that when Calcutta streets are flooded thigh-high in monsoons, it is the rickshaw-puller that saves the day:
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...........A Kolkata writer told Trillin: "When it rains, even the governor takes rickshaws.".......................
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There is a flip side to everything in this world including blogspot whose Google worries and scares Aniket.
My father who was a perceptive observer told me once that cycle-rickshaw is more punishing on its driver than the hand-pulled variety (any long-distance cyclist knows this, and prefers to walk whenever possible). It is the cheap 'seat' that hurts the vitals.
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As I said in an earlier post, our Village didn't have rickshaws in my childhood. I first saw a man-pulled rickshaw in Nellore township when I was about 3.
The rickshaw puller didn't have the fancy cycle-bell: he just walked (or stalked?) behind walkers. And when the child shouts: "koley..koley..koley", the father loses patience and beckons the triumphant rickshaw-puller. He would then kneel his vehicle down to the ground, assist the passengers to climb or mount his livelihood. Then he pulls up the cross-bar (this is the toughest part for all) so that the rickshaw assumes a roughly horizontal posture, and runs!
The first cycle-rickshaws appeared in Nellore around 1955. They were considered posh till the hand-carted ones disappeared one by one. I would be happy to think that the older hand-pullers rehabilitated themselves in the newer versions. I don't know....I tried driving one at KGP when I was feeling my oats (Vinit?) and found it very tricky...it veers into the wayside ditch grounding the spirits.
Each town has its own model of cycle-rickshaws: the Gudur ones are completely covered with a 'non-convertible' dome above them made of a bamboo frame covered with nailed tarpaulin. They are more like palanquins on wheels. Getting into these is a bore and a punishment, but in rains they are so cozy!.
The Visakhapatnam rickshaws are roomy and have a 'Hand-Powered Parking Brake' in addition to the front and rear brakes: the city is built over hills and dales; and while going down-hill you are gone if the Parking Brake fails: every passenger is on his own because the driver leaps down leaving the vehicle with her contents to their own predestined 'career' (prarabhdo)...an altogether exhilarating adventure.
The Hyderabad variety is special....none like them exist elsewhere: they have no leg-space at all. As you climb into it you will find that you have to squat on its seat in the Lotus Posture (Padmasan) with both your legs folded and tucked under your bum. It is said that if you have an ample wife ("jiske bibi moti hai..."), she has got to 'lap' you up romantically (godhme bithao in the reverse).
Kharagpur rickshaws don't pretend to have 'suspensions'.
As the Upanishads are fond of saying: "We have this on this subject":
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It is said that the third day (or night) is the most important, whether it is a new Drama or Cinema or a Lecture Class;
or even love:
"The first was his
Second mine
But the third was
Truly ours".......apologies to Dorothy Parker
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My Valedictory Jumbo First Year Lecture Class of 350 students in the New Complex (Varun says he missed it; luckily for both of us).
Freshers new to IIT.......
In the first two Lectures I am dead serious and make them draw Free-Body Diagrams, solve Differential Equations for Underdamped, Overdamped and Critically damped oscillations.
All students feel IIT is a dour affair.
Towards the end of the third Lecture I announce: "Let me now give you an Engineering application of what we have learned so far"
Everyone pricks their ears: Engg in Physics Class?
"It is called 'shock absorber'. The best example of a vehicle without a shock absorber is the KGP Rickshaw."
A few smell something is going to happen.
"When you travel in it to Gole Bazaar sitting stylishly not holding its frame, at the first bump at Puri Gate you will be shot up like a Projectile and land on the kerb (showing the trajectory with hand)".
A muted hey..hey..hey from the backbenchers.
"If you hold the frame too tightly the same bump will see your spine or clavicle break at a place or two".
More hey..hey..heys his time.
"The trick is to just hold the frame lightly and keep anticipating bumps and ease up and down every time...no picnic this!"
Hurray from the AP guy.
"So your Hero Honda has a shock absorber. This has a spring and a hydraulic damper cylinder with a viscous fluid in it. If it is Under-Damped, you will be set into vertical oscillations at the very first bump and will be bobbing up and down and up and down for the rest of the trip".
Catcalls from Bihari guys.
"If it is Over-Damped, you will go up at the first bump and stay there for the rest of the journey trying slowly to come down and regain your normal seat"
Even the Bengalis join in.
"So the trick is to design Critical-Damping so you recover quickly without oscillating".
An understanding and appreciative silence.
"If you buy a Merecedes Benz, half its Rs 22 lakhs go into the design of the shock absorber, fondly termed 'Suspension'. You can now work on your laptop in the rear seat, your wife can apply her lipstick, and your kid can eat her ice cream cone".
Jeers from cognoscenti for stealing a popular TV ad.
Switch off the mike and start moving up the aisle towards the exit and whisper:
"If you have no kid, no problem!".
Ho, ho, ho from the aisles and a rippling "what was that again?" from afar.
mild gul!
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"A gentleman named G P Sastry
Joined IIT-Kgp to create history,
Claims he slogs
For his blogs,
Each of which makes him a mystery.
A gentleman named G P Sastry,
Who was known for his mastery,
Claims he did `Bhaatbaji',
With full of `Faankibaji',
And in IIT-KGP the rest is history.
A Physicist named GP Sastry,
Created history with his mastery,
I look forward
To write the Foreword
Of the fifth book of his Golden Treasury. "
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I'm glad to notice that you've gotten the hang of altering font styles & colors, hyperlinking texts and embedding pictures in your blogs. Only thing left, I believe, is embedding videos. :)
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