Rolling With Rickshaws in Mumbai

If you're going around Mumbai's suburbs without your own car, you have a few options. You could take the buses, but the Hindi numerals and criss-crossing lines are a mess to the untrained eye. Trains are cheap but run north to south, leaving the sides untouched. And when monsoon season hits, walking may as well be swimming. What's left? Rickshaws.

Three-wheelers with no doors that look like the love-child of a tricycle and a space helmet, Mumbai's "ricks" (aka auto, autorick, baby taxi and—my favorite—tuk tuk) swarm the suburbs. The experience beats air-conditioned taxis any day. Some things to keep in mind for your first ride:

• Ditch the address. Ask if the driver knows the place before you get in, and give him the nearest landmark instead—a park, a train station, or a temple, for example.
• Skip the shifts. Drivers change shifts around 7pm, and many will refuse to take you anywhere that's not convenient for them. Avoid this time, or settle for a trip to the driver's house.
  

• "Don't touch me," says the meter, so don't mess with it. Rickshaws go by distance and official fares, sometimes posted on a chart inside. Riding from midnight to 5am means a jump of 25%. Want to practice mental math? It's roughly thirteen rupees times the meter distance, minus two. Don't ask why.

• Watch the flaps. Since rickshaws have no doors, things can get messy. Hold on to your stuff to avoid drive-by thieves and accidental drops. When it rains, look for a rick with its side flaps down. The seat will be drier, and your bum will thank you.
• Don't trust the bumper stickers. It's amazing how many nooks and crannies a rickshaw can squeeze into. "Safety First" and "Keep Distance"? Nah. Settle in for a fun ride.
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