It is about 9 am in the morning. School is hardly a kilometer away from my home. It barely takes about 5 minutes from home to walk through a broad open street, and then take a right at the street corner to get to school. Most kids walk to school. There are a few kids who come with their dads on scooters or bicycles. The most common form of mass transportation in this small little town, at this time of the day is the cycle-rickshaw.
Kids coming from far-away places get on a cycle rickshaw (a pedicab) designed comfortably at-best, for two. However, there are about eight kids packed in that open-top, three-wheeler, manually pedaled by - the famous rickshaw wallah. Three kids sitting on the leather seat inside the rickshaw; Three on a wooden plank staring those kids sitting opposite to them on the leather seat; The other two are the premium "seatless seats" left for those "Not too young, yet not too big" rightsize kids.
These two seatless seats are not really seats. These two are typically taken by boys, who would climb from the back of the rickshaw on top of the leather seat, facing away from the direction of motion, and hold on to the roof top which is folded all the time - except when there is rain. In other words, the two rightsize kids would have their butts squeezed on top of the leather seat, in between the two head-gaps of the three kids sitting on the leather seat. Yet, from their faces, it always seemed like these rightsize kids on the seatless, with their feet hanging in the air, were flying through a world - staring at the world coming towards them.
I always wanted to be on the seatless seat. It was just too cool. It was possible to be on seatless only on your way to and from school. On the evenings and over the weekends, when we went out - my brother and I get the wooden plank seats and my parents used to be on the leather seats. In other words, a completely acceptable form of sitting on the seatless seat in the morning was frowned upon in the evening. I tried many times asking my parents. The answer was a simple no. It was too risky. We never dared to ask - How come those in the morning sat on the seatless? Those were the days when every kid knew that some questions were never asked - in front of parents.
Similarly, one would never sit on the seatless when one is riding solo; or even when two kids are riding together. The weight of the two kids on the seatless needs to be balanced by those sitting inside the rickshaw. There is a protocol to get in and out. FILO - First in and Last out. While getting in - first, the seats inside the rickshaw need to be occupied; Then, the two rightsize kids climb from the back and then the rickshaw wallah climbs on top of his seat and starts to pedal. Once he gets to the destination, he parks the vehicle, gets down from his seat and walks towards the rightsize kids on the back of the rickshaw. They would have to first jump off the seatless ; Then, those inside would get down last.
If anybody violated the order, the rickshaw could easily get toppled and those on the seatless would most definitely get hurt. There were no instructions written anywhere. There was no law mandating the maximum number of kids inside or on top of a rickshaw. There was no stop sign coming off a parked rickshaw suggesting to all those on the road to stop while the kids get down at their destination. The rickshaw wallah was sensible enough to allow only those older rightsize kids to get on the seatless. A few parents, I am sure, did not want their kids to be on the seatless. Their kids, I am sure, however thought otherwise. The system, nevertheless, worked.
I must have been in 5th grade. I was growing up. In a year or so, I would no more be a rightsize kid. I had never been on the seatless since my home was so close to school. This was the year to do. No such opportunity was coming up. Sometimes, I wished - either I moved to a far-away school or a far-away home so that I could get to school in a rickshaw, sitting on the seatless.
Then, one day- I made up my mind. It was going to be this year. It was actually going to be tomorrow.
I asked my friend who was the rightsize kid on the seatless rickshaw. He offered me his seatless seat the next day, if I came to his house in the morning. Both of us used to collect stamps as a hobby. So, I had to pay a dear price - a Somalian stamp which I had recently bragged to him about ,a recent collection thanks to my uncle, who mailed a letter from Mogadishu.
The next day, I got up early and got ready about 40 minutes ahead of my usual schedule. I told my parents that my friend was not coming to school today and that I had to pick up a book that I had given him the day before.
I walked to my friend's house about 15 minutes away. I made sure I was there well in advance and waited for the rickshaw to come pick up my friend at his place. This was the day I was waiting for. I waited by the gate. I didn't want to go inside his house for fear of having to explain all this to his parents. I see other rickshaws passing by. I am eagerly awaiting my friend to come out and for his rickshaw to stop by -so I could soon be flying from my seatless ! His mom stepped out in a little while. There was no sight of my friend by her side. His mom said that he got sick the previous night and was not coming to school that day and hence had called off the rickshaw. I started running towards school.
Kids coming from far-away places get on a cycle rickshaw (a pedicab) designed comfortably at-best, for two. However, there are about eight kids packed in that open-top, three-wheeler, manually pedaled by - the famous rickshaw wallah. Three kids sitting on the leather seat inside the rickshaw; Three on a wooden plank staring those kids sitting opposite to them on the leather seat; The other two are the premium "seatless seats" left for those "Not too young, yet not too big" rightsize kids.
These two seatless seats are not really seats. These two are typically taken by boys, who would climb from the back of the rickshaw on top of the leather seat, facing away from the direction of motion, and hold on to the roof top which is folded all the time - except when there is rain. In other words, the two rightsize kids would have their butts squeezed on top of the leather seat, in between the two head-gaps of the three kids sitting on the leather seat. Yet, from their faces, it always seemed like these rightsize kids on the seatless, with their feet hanging in the air, were flying through a world - staring at the world coming towards them.
I always wanted to be on the seatless seat. It was just too cool. It was possible to be on seatless only on your way to and from school. On the evenings and over the weekends, when we went out - my brother and I get the wooden plank seats and my parents used to be on the leather seats. In other words, a completely acceptable form of sitting on the seatless seat in the morning was frowned upon in the evening. I tried many times asking my parents. The answer was a simple no. It was too risky. We never dared to ask - How come those in the morning sat on the seatless? Those were the days when every kid knew that some questions were never asked - in front of parents.
Similarly, one would never sit on the seatless when one is riding solo; or even when two kids are riding together. The weight of the two kids on the seatless needs to be balanced by those sitting inside the rickshaw. There is a protocol to get in and out. FILO - First in and Last out. While getting in - first, the seats inside the rickshaw need to be occupied; Then, the two rightsize kids climb from the back and then the rickshaw wallah climbs on top of his seat and starts to pedal. Once he gets to the destination, he parks the vehicle, gets down from his seat and walks towards the rightsize kids on the back of the rickshaw. They would have to first jump off the seatless ; Then, those inside would get down last.
If anybody violated the order, the rickshaw could easily get toppled and those on the seatless would most definitely get hurt. There were no instructions written anywhere. There was no law mandating the maximum number of kids inside or on top of a rickshaw. There was no stop sign coming off a parked rickshaw suggesting to all those on the road to stop while the kids get down at their destination. The rickshaw wallah was sensible enough to allow only those older rightsize kids to get on the seatless. A few parents, I am sure, did not want their kids to be on the seatless. Their kids, I am sure, however thought otherwise. The system, nevertheless, worked.
I must have been in 5th grade. I was growing up. In a year or so, I would no more be a rightsize kid. I had never been on the seatless since my home was so close to school. This was the year to do. No such opportunity was coming up. Sometimes, I wished - either I moved to a far-away school or a far-away home so that I could get to school in a rickshaw, sitting on the seatless.
Then, one day- I made up my mind. It was going to be this year. It was actually going to be tomorrow.
I asked my friend who was the rightsize kid on the seatless rickshaw. He offered me his seatless seat the next day, if I came to his house in the morning. Both of us used to collect stamps as a hobby. So, I had to pay a dear price - a Somalian stamp which I had recently bragged to him about ,a recent collection thanks to my uncle, who mailed a letter from Mogadishu.
The next day, I got up early and got ready about 40 minutes ahead of my usual schedule. I told my parents that my friend was not coming to school today and that I had to pick up a book that I had given him the day before.
I walked to my friend's house about 15 minutes away. I made sure I was there well in advance and waited for the rickshaw to come pick up my friend at his place. This was the day I was waiting for. I waited by the gate. I didn't want to go inside his house for fear of having to explain all this to his parents. I see other rickshaws passing by. I am eagerly awaiting my friend to come out and for his rickshaw to stop by -so I could soon be flying from my seatless ! His mom stepped out in a little while. There was no sight of my friend by her side. His mom said that he got sick the previous night and was not coming to school that day and hence had called off the rickshaw. I started running towards school.
Good one guru as always
ReplyDeleteDid you finally get to ride seatless?
ReplyDeleteI could visualize the 10-year-old you, waiting eagerly for that moment - when the mother walked out to announce that it was not to be!! The disappointment was palpable.
Beautiful writing!!
"I started running towards school"
ReplyDeleteFunny and interesting writeup. Don't have much experiences with rickshaws, as I took buses to school; later bus and a train in aamchi mumbai.