India is perhaps one of those few countries where a strange blend of modernity and tradition bewilders you. On the one hand you have cars with power windows and steering, gliders, metros, hi tech buses and on the other there are the rickshaws - a mode of transportation, which has been in use since age-old times.

There are two types of rickshaws - the hand pulled ones and the cycle rickshaws. Going by statistics, rickshaws are more common in the north than in the south. In Kolkata, for instance, rickshaws are still thriving peacefully with the Metro. What about Bangalore?

Here, rickshaws are confined only to the older parts of the city like Frazer Town, Cantonment and Cox Town. The main reason behind this could be the fact that in all these areas the Anglo-Indian population is high and to this day most of the old Anglo- Indians prefer to travel in rickshaws. Ms Peter, an old Anglo Indian lady who prefers to go to the market in the cycle rickshaw everyday, said that she finds the, "rickshaw ride very comforting. It is after all pollution free and eco-friendly." There are some cycle rickshaws that ferry school children.However, rickshaws somehow don't fit in the jet-paced life of Bangalore. Most people prefer faster means of transport. The number of rickshaw pullers as such is also dwindling away. Most of them are switching over to other jobs to keep themselves going. But what about the existing ones?

It is a hot summer afternoon. A wiry, middle-aged man stands on his bare feet at a crossroad in the Cantonment Station area. His muscled armsare balancing the tool of his trade: a hand-pulled rickshaw. He looks longingly around him to spot a commuter. Suddenly someone hails him from across the road. At once he makes a dash, the tingling noise made by the bell, which dangles from his hand, soon merges with the honking of the Honda Cities and Accords that pass by. Meet Lakshman Ray. He's around 40. But hard work and lack of proper nutrition makes him look at least ten years older. Lakshman does not want his children to follow his footsteps. He is grateful to be a rickshaw puller for one reason: it has allowed him to feed and clothe his family. However, the paltry sum that he earns isn't enough to pull his family out of the poverty line. They live in the nearby slum of Tannery Road. "It's a hard job, it's a hot job," he says, wiping sweat from his neck with a long scarf. "But it's the only job I have," he adds wistfully.

He feels that the increasing number of autos and other vehicles has robbed him of his clientele. "People prefer these vehicles to a rickshaw, as they are faster and more spacious," says Lakshman. "However, rickshaws have some distinct advantages over cars and autos - they don't cause pollution," he adds.Of the estimated 150 rickshaw pullers in the city, Shankar is fairly typical. A migrant from poverty-stricken Hubli, he came to the city five years ago. Shankar earns about 100 rupees a day. Of this amount, he spends 20 rupees as rickshaw rent and 30 rupees for food per day, the rest goes to his wife and five children in Hubli. On bad days, he has to shell out a large part of his earnings to the policemen to avoid charges of traffic violation. "My children go to school," says Shankar standing under the little shade of his rickshaw in the mid-afternoon heat. "I don't want them to do this job. It's too hard."

Rickshaws do not seem to have a bright future in Bangalore. The authorities feel that rickshaws result in traffic jams and add to the already chaotic traffic condition. So the government is planning to take off the rickshaws from the roads. What do the rickshaw pullers have to say to that? Abdul, a rickshaw puller says he is not going to just go away. "The Indian ministers say India should have no more rickshaws, but they don't realize that this is my work," says the stern-faced rickshaw puller. "If there are no rickshaws, I have no work. Then what happens? My family will be on streets which I do not want."

Really, the world of Shankars, Abduls and Lakhmans is a very different one from ours - it is a world, which many of us cannot even comprehend. It is a world where people work hard the whole day and yet are penniless at the end of the month. They don't have permanent roofs over their heads, they are never sure where their next meal is coming from and their children will most likely never see the inside of a school room unless it is free. Moments of joy in this world are fleeting and paltry, maybe in the form of watching a film on a television set in the neighborhood electronics store. Hardships are many - disease, hunger, insecurity and the list could go on. They part with a large share of their money to keep themselves secure, save themselves from being tortured, harassed, driven out of their little territories but still security eludes them. That is the irony of their life.

Deepa Pics: Ravindra Nayak

|