Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Pink Auto Rickshaw

Most auto rickshaws have a fairly wide target market. Said another way, the target market for just about any auto rickshaw is a person that has (or appears to have) enough money to pay a fare. On Saturday, we approached an auto rickshaw with a markedly more targeted market: women.
Cute? Sure. Safe? Debatable.
There's no doubt the color scheme caught the eye. While I'm sure the purported reasoning behind this is that it's a safe mode for women to travel alone, I have my doubts. Perhaps I'm a cynic, but something tells me that the safest place for a woman to travel alone in this country probably isn't a pink covered auto rickshaw that basically has a flashing sign that says, "woman on board by herself". It reminds me a little of the time in 2004 when there was a terrorist alert here and the office decided it would be a good idea to stick a uniformed guard in the car with us Americans. I'm a firm believer in the concept of not drawing undue attention to one's self.

I hate to say it and I could be completely wrong here, but I had the impression it was (again the cynic and pardon the pun) a really sleazy way to pick up or (even worse) lure women under the guise of safety. Based on a quick set of searches online, I couldn't find any mention of these types of rickshaws. Needless to say, remain vigilant, remain aware of your surroundings, and don't expect to find my wife anywhere near one of these rickshaws.

And to answer the question likely on your mind, yes, the driver was a dude.

3 comments:

  1. wow! this is news to me.

    i like the way the autos run in Kolkata. they run on a route, and there is always at least 3 or 4 other people in them with you. But that doesn't mean you will always be safe, i'm sure there are men who will try something.

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Definitely share your observation ... that it sounds like a walking advertisement for sleaze!!

    It's sure cute though!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Transit advertisement is basically advertisement that is placed on anything which moves, like Taxi Advertising , subway advertise, Auto Ads, and buses, but also includes fixed static and Digital advertising at train and bus stop and platforms .
    Auto advertising is great at reaching targeted customers, business people and tourists.

    ReplyDelete