A day in the life of an auto-rickshaw driver from the eyes of a European traveller

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How many of us have actually stopped to think about an auto-rickshaw driver who usually form an integral part of our lives. Have you wondered how difficult would commuting be without them? Well they have become a part of our lives with so much of ease that we usually fail to think about them and what would we do in their absence. But they are still a fascination to the foreign travelers who come to India every now and then.

Today we have for you a video made a European traveler who was fascinated by the auto-rickshaw drivers of Bangalore and their lives over the period of his stay in India which lasted a month. Xaver Xylophon is the name of the traveler and he has captured the same pretty beautifully through animation. It has been based on his days of riding in the rickshaws and drawings which were made locally by him.

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The animated video captures the usual tough work day of a rickshaw driver in Bangalore which can be seen as a representation of every city in the country through the eyes of a European traveler. The 4,50,000 auto-rickshaws are the blood in the veins of Bangalore as per Xaver and it is so true. Here’s what the video description reads as we believe rephrasing it would have taken out the feeling that the author wanted to convey:

“Green, yellow, black. They are the blood in the veins of Bangalore: the 450.000 rickshaws and their drivers. Knocked together from bits and pieces, decorated, ready for the junk heap or carefully maintained like antique cars, the vehicles are as charismatic as their owners, who brave the monstrous traffic of this metropolis daringly, sleepy, chattering or stoic, making sure the passanger’s trip from A to B will be full of memorable experiences.

Based on days of riding around in rickshaws and drawings made locally, this animation captures the tough workaday life of a rickshaw driver, seen through the eyes of a European visitor.”

The video was made after he visited  India as part of the project “The Law of the Market” at the University of Arts Berlin Weißensee, 2011. Just watch to video and you’ll be mesmerized with the creation.

 
Check out the video, after a jump.

 

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