On Tuk Tuks

Tuk Tuks as a species are common all over South East Asia and the Subcontinent, but the particular breed you encounter seems to vary depending on where you are. Here in Mumbai, the ever present and friendly buzz of the multi-coloured Sri Lankan tuk tuk has been replaced by the deeper, throatier growl of an altogether meaner machine. Black and yellow three wheelers crowd the already overflowing streets, dirty exhausts spewing clouds of brown soot onto the tarmac. The drivers are uniformed, uninformed and unfriendly, constantly on their horns, weaving between lanes, trucks and busses with little to no regard for their passengers comfort or safety. A journey in a Mumbai tuk tuk can be...quite fun actually.

Unlike their Sri Lankan cousins the Mumbai tuk tuks are all of a kind, with the colour scheme covering taxis of all sizes as well as the tuk tuks themselves. There are no personal touches to the cabs, no stickers or slogans. All of them seem to come from the same mould, a world apart from the hundreds of brightly coloured, individualised tuk tuks of Colombo. No matter which cab you flag down every driver will initially charge you about double the price they will eventually settle for. As long as you're willing to walk away you can always find a tuk tuk cheaper, though the sheer amount of people here mean it might be a while before an empty one turns up.

Once on the road the only things available to secure yourself with are your own two hands. The roads in Mumbai are uneven at best, and the drivers don't slow down for the bumps so you need to be careful or you might end up with your head through the canvas roof. Cars cut you up at all angles and from all directions. It's a miricle there aren't more crashes than there are, the roads hold everything from 18 wheelers to ox carts. The varying speeds mean that lanes don't really play a big part. The traffic moves organically, flowing around blockages like a river would. It's a system that works quite well at keeping the traffic moving, but it can be a little terrifying when your tiny three wheeler suddenly veers diagonally across three lines of cars to avoid a rogue cow.

It's easy to see why the Sri Lankan tuk tuks wouldn't work here. There are simply too many people for a friendly aproach. Every walkway is crammed with people wanting a lift. It's impossible to move anywhere in Mumbai, a huge city incidentally, without being jossled and crowded out. All day every day is the equivalent of rush hour in London, so the concept of a relaxed journey anywhere is unrealistic at best. It will be interesting to see how the tuk tuks change as we move through India and into South East Asia, it seems reasonable to assume they'll be different everywhere we go, but different how we will just have to wait and see.

George