As I'm all set to leave this city, it'll be a crime not remembering the very people who, over the past two years have polished my negotiation skills - the rikshaw drivers of Hyderabad.
As a tribute, I'll now be sharing my copyrighted algorithm for bargaining on the auto fare.
1. Walk up to the first guy ( they mostly park their vehicles in a queue), tell him where you wanna go.(Bowenpally, for instance) He may confuse you with questions like "Bowenpally mein kahaan?". Ignore him, and just ask for the fare. One trick I have mastered is to do it in secunderabad lingo.
So, instead of "Fare kitna hoga?"( which is so HITEC city, and the autowallahs will try and take you for a ride), use "Kitta Lete?". On a good day,they'll all be like "Oh..no..not another secunderabadi! He'll now bargain all day. Du'h.."
This advantage is monumental. You can almost feel him succumbing to you skills.
2. Now, depending on his day, or the price of diesel, or the heat of Hyderabad, he may choose to give you a good deal or a bad one. (For eg, I have found that the fare from Kondapur to Bowenpally can range from 140 to over 250.) This is exactly where you seize the moment. Regardless of what he tells you, drop your jaw. Laugh for a second, shaking your head in utter disbelief. You can also use exclamatory comments like "150??? ek saww pachaas?? Mazaak karre ho?" Remember to be so loud that all overlooking drivers can assess the situation for a second.
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| nnaan oru roova thannaal athu 100 roova thanna maathiri.. |
Please dont overdo this. You may get slapped.
3. Once you are done with the act, just walk away. The trick is to never negotiate with the first guy. Just reject him.
4. Approach the next driver in line. Repeat step 1.
5. If you peformed Steps 2 and 3 with reasonable efficiency, you now look like a no-nonsense guy to all drivers hanging around.The second guy you approach will give you a better deal.
There are always people who call your bluff, but just treat them with Step 3.
6. You can do the above as many times as you want, depending on your energy levels.
7. Once you decide on a fare, get in, murmuring that its a bad deal, and if it was by meter, it would've been 20 bucks less. Act like you are doing the auto-guy a favour. This way, he wont have second thoughts about asking you for more money later on.
Simple as it may sound, this is a very elaborate process, and by no measure an easy one.
A lot depends on your subtle variations. To stay ahead of the drivers all the time,you got to improvise.
I have tried this algorithm in other cities, and found it to be less effective.
For the following reasons:
Bangalore: Almost all drivers are mallus. And they have their unions.
You can go from Step 2 to Step 5 all day,and notice no change in the fare whatsoever.
They take no shit. Behind your back, you might also hear: "poda chekka.."
Kozhikode,Mumbai: Absolutely unnecessary. They go by the meter.
(Now working on a "mumbai taxi wallah" variant, which I expect to sell like mustangs)
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