Cycle Rickshaws

A photo that brings old memories - CycleRickshaws/Entyce
The Rickshaw man fighting it out for survival



Cycle Rickshaws used to be a oft used mode of transport in the 1970s in Madras and other parts of Tamil Nadu.

I made a few cycle rickshaw trips in the 1970s in Madras.

And the school uniform in most of my early school years were from entyce, which forms the background to this photograph.

In the last two decades people have not taken a liking to either of these with few exceptions like this one on West Chitrai Street Madurai.

Given this scenario, it is heartening to note that Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival, the annual festival that celebrates 'Madras that was' in the month of Margazhi, has taken up the cause of the cycle rickshaws in their own little way by organising Heritage trips around Mylapore on the cycle rickshaws.

If not for anything, it will at least take people back to the good old days when they did not feel it odd or shy to travel on a cycle rickshaw discussing on the way all kinds of things with the rickshaw man ranging from the latest MGR movie to political developments in Tamil Nadu and from the local Ranji Trophy match to Sunil Gavaskar scoring 36runs in 60overs under our own Venkataraghavan's captaincy in a World Cup match.