Telangana shutdown heroes: Bikers were waiting outside railway stations to give lifts
20 Aug 2014 5:27 AM IST
Tuesday was a day without public transport. But for the stranded, hope came on two wheels
BIKERS TO THE RESCUE: (From left) Derick Saldanah, Jagan Mohan, Shravan Deshmukh, Rahool Saxena, Madan Sai, M.A. Kaleem, Vikram Singh and Vinodh Karuppan were among the 53 bikers who went out offering rides. (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: The passengers at Nampally railway station were in for a rude shock and then a pleasant surprise on Tuesday. The shock because there were no auto-rickshaws or buses plying on the roads due to the Household Survey and surprise because a few bikers were waiting outside since 8 am to offer lifts.
Not just at Nampally station, these 53 bikers dispersed in batches, after a meeting on Monday night, at Secunderabad railway station, GPO, Jubilee and Kacheguda bus stands to ferry people who would be stranded. Had they realised the severity of the survey before, they would have mobilised a bigger support service, admits Rahool Saxena, member of the Wanderers, Bulleteers of Hyderabad biker group, who sent out the call to fellow bikers. Soon members of the xBhp biker group also joined them.
Rahool elaborates on the severity: “At GPO, Abids, a man approached us saying that he was in an emergency. I asked ‘What’s the emergency?’ He said ‘I am one the enumerators of the survey... I have to reach Ameerpet’. I thought this was funny. The government was trapped in its own plan.”
“We even gave rides to cops,” he adds, pointing out, “Since we were in black T-shirts, cops initially thought we are protesting against the survey.”
Then there were tourists who wanted to be ferried to Golconda Fort, others to hotels, some wanted to be taken home from hospitals, one student from Allahabad wanted to reach Ameerpet to pay his fees, women needed to be dropped till Mehdipatnam etc.
However, there were some autorickshaws on the roads despite the shutdown.
But this wasn’t exactly a good news. Senior biker M.A. Kaleem of xBhp says, “They were out for a kill. They were charging people 10 times the price. I am sorry to say they had no sympathy. We are not questioning the survey, but the government should have thought about those who were travelling to Hyderabad.”
And whatever little help these bikers offered earned them a lot of goodwill and blessings. “We gave a lift to a priest who had come from Jagannath Puri. He blessed us for 10 minutes. We are glad we could help,” adds Kaleem.
( Source : dc )
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