Slice Of Life: ‘I became auto driver after my shop was demolished’

Chennai

I was born in Agramthen in East Tambaram. I was a two-wheeler mechanic 30 years ago. While widening the highway, my shop which was located on Tambaram–Medavakkam Road was demolished. After that, I tried to shift my shop to various places, but I couldn’t afford the huge rent and had to close it. Then, I started driving an autorickshaw. I live with my son as my wife and daughter passed away. My son has completed BCA in a private college and is searching for a job. Every morning, I reach the auto stand near East Tambaram railway station and take trips from there till night. I work even on Sundays. I cannot join ride aggregators like Ola and Uber as I don’t know how to operate the device they are providing. Also, I feel they are earning huge money using us. To attract customers, they are providing rides at cheap rates, which is not is even enough for the fuel cost. Only the inexperienced auto drivers would choose to work with the aggregators. I have lost 50 per cent of customers because of them as many of them prefer booking autos through the mobile app.