Why I became a Rickshaw-walla

I have realised that,
The perspective generally doesn’t change from what you see, hear or read.

It changes dramatically - sometimes in a snap - when your skin feels, sweat and bleed. 

I have sat in a rickshaw a zillion times, but every time in the rear seat. This seat is very cozy. It has got a shade; good amount of leg space and in most cases a good cushion as well. When the sun is over your head in all its fury, nothing beats a rickshaw ride. 

But what it means to be a rickshaw walla? How does it feel to pull a rickshaw right from the morning till late in the evening?

I am a Cyclist and have cycled at times even 200 kms in a day pedalling 12-14 hours continuously (with refreshment & washroom breaks of course!) but these rides are done once in a blue moon, high on adrenaline. It’s just me and my bike and nobody else. It’s about freedom and pleasure. And it’s about binging too; afterall I have to take a lot of carbs and proteins and fluids to keep myself in good shape!

What’s the case with a rickshaw walla? How high on Adrinaline can he afford to be when he knows that pulling a rickshaw the entire day is not a one-off pleasure ride but his routine? It’s not about freedom; it’s more about being a slave to the circumstances. It’s not a pleasure ride for him; it’s drudgery. And forget binging, there are occasions when they have only enough money to either buy dinner or pay the rickshaw rent and you know what’s the priority!

However, whatever I have said above is just a scholarly talk, looks good in a research paper. Until and unless I be there, until and unless I sit on that saddle in front of that cozy seat on which I have hitherto sat, how can I possibly know what it is like to be a rickshaw walla? That’s why I have become a rickshaw-walla.

You realize what it means to be a rickshaw puller when you ass craves for mercy from that rickety broken saddle, when your knees and palms and lower-back pain incessantly, when your already bald head gets some crispy hot slaps from the furious sun (and it’s a suptember sun, mind you, not june!) and when you don’t urinate the entire day cuz there’s only enough water in your body to either sweat or pee and you don’t have enough money to buy that extra amount of water!

But honestly, I still havn't fully realized what it means to be a rickshaw-walla because at dusk when the real rickshaw-walla goes back to his shanty dwelling (if any) or on the footpath or bus-stand, i come back home while enjoying the AC of Delhi Metro so sleep on a comfy bed! I hope I'll muster enough courage to experience that as well few days down the line.

And lastly, the most prominent change of perspective - 

When you are on the back seat of the rickshaw, a hot girl looks like a prospective mate, someone you would like to approach but when you are on the saddle, a hot girl only looks like a prospective customer! The similarity however is - you would still like to approach her to say,....... “Madam Rickshaw?”