Chal chaiya chaiya

Have you seen people protruding their head out of a fast moving auto on a busy road, if your answer is negative then you need to visit HYD. No its not lifted from a James Bond sequel , its a daily ritual for most of us that i am talking of.
I have tried to present before you a normal day's adventure in the life of the most run of the mill living creature 'we the human being' or more precisely the working class fraternity of HYD.
Any pun in this writeup is intended and any any scorn deliberate :).
The word auto in hyderabad is a misnomer, its actually formula1 cars mounted on 3 wheels with super heroes flaunting the steering. Autowala is much more than the celluloid figure whom we adore the most. With his maneuverings, posters all around the auto and the mellifluous music its true to say that he is Vin Diesel, Picasso and Elvis pressed in one.
This enlightenment will come to you natural, the only investment required is a trip from Madhapur to Ameerpet.
The life enriching experience of an autoride starts way before you actually step into an auto. While you walk upto the stand the autowala traces your wearabouts and lurches at you with supersonic speed. Even before you inch backwards or sidewards, the auto makea a 270 degree turn and block ur way. Its the test of your reflexes where you are bound to fail, however prepared you may be.
Hobson's choice: get inside the auto or wait for the next meber of the elite auto clan to walk you through the gruesome experience once again.
Now that you are in their territory you are at their mercy, in fact you had little choice from the very start.
To make you forget the psychological trauma that you have endured, the autowala will put on the music. Its usually a remix of the highest order, the kind of which you never ever dared to think of, and the kind of which you will never ever dare to think of again.
The Bass and treble are so soft and rythmic that inadvertently you fall in love with it and politely request the autorider to lower the volume or stop it altogether. But the look on his face keeps you mum for at least the remaining part of the journey. The proportianate mix of hate and disgust on his face speaks volumes. You appear to him as a descendent of a native of the zulu tribe, with little artistic sense for such a symphony. He neither mocks at the paucity of your urbane taste, nor ridicules you, but shows indifference for a creature so deprived. To shunt away from the blaring music and his piercing eyes, u have no second alternative than to pock ur neck out of the auto.
Gradually u get accustomed to your newly formed habitat, and start concentrating on hoding fast to the seat, this because it had already moved out and u are in mid air. U push it, shove it and apply ur brain cells how to stick it in proper place, but the architecture is such that no matter what u do it finds a way of getting out. After all its not only we mortal souls who crave for independence. And to be honest its a boon in disguise, u know how to stand in rough weather, as the old adage says 'as the going gets tougher, the tougher gets going'. So u see, u also have a philosophical dimension to this untiring journey.
The moment you step out of the auto u are a thoroughly changed man. The journey has turned your approach towards life, and you start seeing the brighter side of the day. Thanks to the half an hr journey u are a matured man, someone for whom life is no more a mystery, one who has seen all the vicissitude of life in such a short span of time and has started appreciating anything and everything that he comes across. You have found the inevitable inner peace and so you look around smile at no one and start humming the same song played a couple of minutes ago : 'chal chahiya chaiya'.