Vaijayanti Asolkar Bhattacharya
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i remeber an incidence in Pune. it was most probably 1988 or 1989, late may or early June. I reached pune by maharashtra express (5.45 am). As a habit rang my friend's place that i had arrived and would reach university guest house where i had booking done by my guide. my friend asked me to wait outside the gate and said hewould pick me from there. i told him, no need, i would take an autorikshaw and reach, and there was no need for him to travel 10 km from home to railway station and to university another 7 km, and back home. the phone got disconnected on its own , somehow, and since i had said what i wanted to, i didnt call back again.
i came out and realised that there were several autorikshaws waiting for passengers but no body was hiring them. instead there were members of a huge group asking each passenger or groups of passengers as to where they wanted to go. They would drop them at their desired destination free of cost. some members of the crowd were renowned citezen of Pune, i learnt later. when i enquired,i was told that autorikshawwalas of pune had goen on strike for no legitimate demands on previous day and public had to face lot of problems as they didnt allow PMT buses to run either. within 24 hrs punaits united and decided that they wouldnt allow any autorikshaw wala to take any 'bhaada'.instead right from one midnight to another, the citizens flocked railway and bus stations and otehr major transport destinations,and took resposnsibilty of reaching people/travellers to their destinations. Since then , my friend tells me, the autorikshaw walas of pune never went on such a kind of strike.
they didnt care how much petrol they spent that day, that they had to do so much of driving, and that they had to take the entire day off from work/ family. Such are people of pune. Other maharashtrians might make fun of them for their kinks, but this is what they proved- united we stand- no tantrums please!
i dont know whether such a thing can happen in mumbai, or for that matter, in any other city..i still wonder how did they do such a huge and strong network for a cause within a day..(ther were no cellphones that time..)
if any ryzer was a member of that team, i would love to hear from him/her.Private Reply to Vaijayanti Asolkar Bhattacharya (new win) |
