Vikram is the name of a company that manufactures an entire line of small three-wheeled vehicles. Within the Vikram line is an unusual* (notice what they think of themselves in the caption below the third photo!) passenger-carrying vehicle called a .. TEMPO!
In twenty two (22+) plus years of visiting and traveling in India .. I had NEVER ridden in a TEMPO until last Sunday Evening the 17th of March 2013.
I had waited and I had waited and I had waited still longer for a Bus.
"Say about forty five minutes or so 'Zilla!"
And I had watched TEMPO after TEMPO after TEMPO go past me. Each 'stuffed' to the roof and sides with passengers.
Finally I walked over to an elderly gentleman and asked .. "Have the buses stopped running for the night?"
Without answering me he did an India-Head-Waggle and smiled and said .. "Catch a TEMPO!"
At that God-given-instant .. up came a TEMPO that stopped and the elderly Indian Gentleman showed me 'what-to-do'.
What you do is this: You jam and you squeeze and you wiggle-your-way aboard assuming that there is indeed room-aboard and that you are physically able to do this demanding exercise!
IF you even think of standing up .. and unthinkingly I did attempt to stand-up in a later TEMPO ride .. you 'brain' yourself.
The time-has-come the Walrus said to talk of many things!
The time-has-come for TEMPO photos!
"Yikes Captain! You got in and you actually rode in one of these 'things'?"
The below photo shows a 'walk over' crossing the main road that passes in front of the Pondicherry Main Bus Stand.
I got up on the 'walk over' to shoot some photos.
Below .. shot down from the 'walk over' .. is your very-first-ever look at a TEMPO. Note the 'crowding' in the front seat with two passengers beside the driver!
Note the relative size of the TEMPO as compared with the motor scooter.
Had I tried for HOURS I could NOT have captured the below photo!
In the below photo .. I 'caught' this lad as he 'paused' for me for just a moment so I could photograph his TEMPO before he headed for his 'loading stand'!
*THE WORLD OF TEMPOS DOES NOT THINK OF THEMSELVES AS UNUSUAL!
"We are SO BEAUTIFUL Dad!"
/s/ The combined tens of thousands of TEMPOs on the Indian Sub-Continent!
HOLD ON .. many photos to come!
This one was un-loading.
Many are very nice-looking. "BEAUTIFUL Dad!"
And as I do .. IF you take-the-time to mix and to mingle with them .. these folks are very proud of their little TEMPOS .. they all live in a real 'community'!
The below photos were taken on the other side of the 'walk over' (shown in the first photo above) in the Main Pondicherry Bus Stand.
There the TEMPOS have their very own 'small place'! THEIR TEMPO COMMUNITY!
They all LOVED ME for mixing and for mingling and for shucking and for jiving with them all!
"Sahib over here .. my photo Sahib!"
Two in front and the back is 'loading'!
In the below photo the back is getting full as one man has his arm out hanging on!
From the rear!
A photo of MY driver .. I sat .. up-in-front beside him!
Below is 'his world'!
And today! With him on-the-fly near my guest house .. I 'caught' him .. recognized him .. and we waved as he went past me!
He was 'loaded' to the roof .. note the hand of the man in front 'hanging on'!
Who would have ever thought that I would suddenly become a 'small part' of the TEMPO community!
In many conversations with them .. the drivers agree that between ten and twelve people can sit in the back. Sometimes .. people also will stand in the back! Hunched down!
And always there will be two men up-front beside the driver. I have never seen a woman in the front. The fact-of-the-matter is this: Women are the vast majority of TEMPO passengers. So-much-so that I actually thought men were prohibited from riding in them!
The fare is 5 Rs or 10-cents. How in the world the drivers collect their fares I will never know. I mean ( and I have been there! ) you are squashed together back there!
"Cap? What is it you LOVE about India?"
I have now added TEMPOs to my list! .. Cap
In twenty two (22+) plus years of visiting and traveling in India .. I had NEVER ridden in a TEMPO until last Sunday Evening the 17th of March 2013.
I had waited and I had waited and I had waited still longer for a Bus.
"Say about forty five minutes or so 'Zilla!"
And I had watched TEMPO after TEMPO after TEMPO go past me. Each 'stuffed' to the roof and sides with passengers.
Finally I walked over to an elderly gentleman and asked .. "Have the buses stopped running for the night?"
Without answering me he did an India-Head-Waggle and smiled and said .. "Catch a TEMPO!"
At that God-given-instant .. up came a TEMPO that stopped and the elderly Indian Gentleman showed me 'what-to-do'.
What you do is this: You jam and you squeeze and you wiggle-your-way aboard assuming that there is indeed room-aboard and that you are physically able to do this demanding exercise!
IF you even think of standing up .. and unthinkingly I did attempt to stand-up in a later TEMPO ride .. you 'brain' yourself.
The time-has-come the Walrus said to talk of many things!
The time-has-come for TEMPO photos!
"Yikes Captain! You got in and you actually rode in one of these 'things'?"
The below photo shows a 'walk over' crossing the main road that passes in front of the Pondicherry Main Bus Stand.
I got up on the 'walk over' to shoot some photos.
Below .. shot down from the 'walk over' .. is your very-first-ever look at a TEMPO. Note the 'crowding' in the front seat with two passengers beside the driver!
Note the relative size of the TEMPO as compared with the motor scooter.
Had I tried for HOURS I could NOT have captured the below photo!
In the below photo .. I 'caught' this lad as he 'paused' for me for just a moment so I could photograph his TEMPO before he headed for his 'loading stand'!
*THE WORLD OF TEMPOS DOES NOT THINK OF THEMSELVES AS UNUSUAL!
"We are SO BEAUTIFUL Dad!"
/s/ The combined tens of thousands of TEMPOs on the Indian Sub-Continent!
HOLD ON .. many photos to come!
This one was un-loading.
Many are very nice-looking. "BEAUTIFUL Dad!"
And as I do .. IF you take-the-time to mix and to mingle with them .. these folks are very proud of their little TEMPOS .. they all live in a real 'community'!
The below photos were taken on the other side of the 'walk over' (shown in the first photo above) in the Main Pondicherry Bus Stand.
There the TEMPOS have their very own 'small place'! THEIR TEMPO COMMUNITY!
They all LOVED ME for mixing and for mingling and for shucking and for jiving with them all!
"Sahib over here .. my photo Sahib!"
Two in front and the back is 'loading'!
In the below photo the back is getting full as one man has his arm out hanging on!
From the rear!
A photo of MY driver .. I sat .. up-in-front beside him!
Below is 'his world'!
And today! With him on-the-fly near my guest house .. I 'caught' him .. recognized him .. and we waved as he went past me!
He was 'loaded' to the roof .. note the hand of the man in front 'hanging on'!
Who would have ever thought that I would suddenly become a 'small part' of the TEMPO community!
In many conversations with them .. the drivers agree that between ten and twelve people can sit in the back. Sometimes .. people also will stand in the back! Hunched down!
And always there will be two men up-front beside the driver. I have never seen a woman in the front. The fact-of-the-matter is this: Women are the vast majority of TEMPO passengers. So-much-so that I actually thought men were prohibited from riding in them!
The fare is 5 Rs or 10-cents. How in the world the drivers collect their fares I will never know. I mean ( and I have been there! ) you are squashed together back there!
"Cap? What is it you LOVE about India?"
I have now added TEMPOs to my list! .. Cap
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