It looks like a normal rickshaw, only newer, prettier, untarnished, and there's a luggage rack on the yellow roof. On closer inspection, it has "Ahmedabad No Rickshawalo", meaning Ahmedabad's Rickshaw man, written on the side with a painting of a man waving from a rickshaw, looking rather like the driver himself, who's sporting a Gandhi topi (hat) and a khadi kurta, quite the ambassador of Gujarat.
You must all have been in a rickshaw if you've been to India, but let me tell you, this is no ordinary rickshaw. Udhaybhai Jadava lives and works by Gandhian principles, is most courteous and oozes with passion for Gujarat.
The music Ahmedabad No Rickshawalo starts playing as soon as I step inside, a famous old Bollywood song, takes his branding to a whole new level. I forget about the music for a moment ... The mini library of carefully organised Gujarat travel information leaflets and newspapers slotted in the sleeve in front of me above which is written "May peace prevail on Earth", keep my eyes busy for a while. He points out the small fan for the summer months and tells me there's even a small bin on the side, head moving side to side in that customary Indian way, adding that he empties this bin every evening … His contribution towards keeping the city clean, so that his guests need not throw rubbish on the streets. And Ahmedabad was in fact the second city in India to make a mandated transition to compressed natural gas (CNG), replacing the fleet of black and yellow petrol-run rickshaws with environment-conscious green and yellow colours of CNG.
There is something intensely friendly about this man, the good kid in the class. It was volunteers at the NGO Manav Sadhna (www.manavsadhna.org) at Gandhi Ashram that inspired Udhaybhai to live and work by the principles of Gandhi.
He passes me the envelope in which his guests place whatever amount of money they deem right for their journey, following the same principle as Seva Café (www.sevacafe.org), another Manav Sadhna project. Inside is written, "To journey together is a strong part of our Indian culture, where our rickshaw has not a meter, but a heart ...", signed off "With love in service, Your loving family". Which reminds me, I forgot to tell you about the smiley-face badge he had attached to my sleeve as I entered.
I don't notice it initially, but looking around once I've taken in all that is in front of me, a grey box with "Satya", meaning Truth, written in Gujarati catches my eye.
"Udhaybhai, what's in this box?" I ask. "Snacks and mineral water," he says, as though this is the norm — of course, why wouldn't I know. "For customers?" I ask. "Yes, for all."
Well, he truly does uphold that most Gujarati principle of treating guests as God, "atithi devo bhava". "Would you like a puri?" he asks with eagerness, never tiring of being the perfect host, of constantly smiling. I decline the kind yet unusual offer, and decide instead to stop for fresh coconut water on the street. What I hadn't realised is that those puris are made by his wife, and what's more, he has chocolate for children that sit in his rickshaw!
I'm now wondering if there is anything else stashed away somewhere. It only takes a few minutes. I glance upwards and notice the tribal roof, the slightly dull colours of the pattern giving it that ancient vegetable-paint look. "It's matajini chundani," he tells me — something traditional printed on the rickshaw roof, thus promoting tribal art. As soon as he notices me reading, his hand stretches back and a light is switched on. I knew I had missed something! Is there anything he hasn't thought of?
Read Udhaybhai's diary on www.movedbylove.org/projects/rickshaw/
