Checkout this story about this group of Mumbaikars who paid Rs 500 to a Rikshaw puller to take them 18 Kms to the airport, in Calcutta.
Khan was doing a round of Sealdah station at 8am, when a group of six tourists approached him and asked if he could take them to the airport. Khan was taken aback. No one had asked him this before (and he has seen many a bandh in the 30 years as a rickshaw puller). He hesitated. The distance was too much. The sun was getting hotter and he had seen many rickshaw-pullers collapse from heat strokes. [link]
18 kms is almost a marathon; an impossible distance for most of us to walk, leave alone run. But the riskshaw puller covered the distance in 2.5 hrs. All while lugging along a weight of 150kg.
The Mumbai wallahs were happy to reach the airport on a day of complete lockout in the city due to a bandh. The rikshaw puller was happy to have pulled off a big pay day. The bandh organizers must have been happy to bring the city to a standstill.
But somewhere it all seems wrong.
Were the bandh organizers justified in bringing a bustling metro to its knees? What about the innumerable others who weren’t so enterprising? Was it a wise decision for the rikshaw puller to take the risk of suffering a stroke, for a mere 500 rupees? Was it fair for the big city people to put the life of the rikshaw puller at stake, just to catch a flight? If he had died enroute, what would they have done?
Human enterprise? Human short sightedness?
Related posts:
read this story this morning and was shocked. I am pretty sure if he died enroute, the guys would have just tried to reach the airport leaving him there to rot.
But the bigger problem are these bandhs. never understood what they achieve.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
This reminds me of an old Hindi classic film..Do Bigha Zameen.
People tend to encash others misfortune.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The ways of enterprise ! The enterprise of politics gets such bandhs going. The politics of enterprise, gets exploitation going !
Sigh !
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I would say human cruelty!! Bandhs are worst thing about west bengal and I have no qualms saying that being a Bengali myself.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The lack of sensitivity for another fellow human is appalling. Even more telling is the fact that the rikshaw puller decided to take that risk – clearly 500 rupees mean a lot to him.
As for bandhs – the less said the better.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@Munish, @Lata, @Kavi, @Reema, @Smitha – Thanks for the comments. This one’s definitely one unfortunate story. Of Human misery. Human exploitation. And Human apathy.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
It might be the reason that he had to met his needs, that’s why he has taken up that risk. A need can emphasize a man to do anything.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0