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Applied mechanics |Прикладная механика

Lesson 10

Read the text: Share autos

Auto-wallahs flaunt their affection for film stars, cricket stars and political leaders by putting posters of them on both auto interiors and exteriors. The latest movie title of the auto-wallah's favorite movie star generally appears on the back of the auto.

Autos also feature commercials on the back of their canopies. Autos in Mumbai and Bangalore have advertisements of consumer review portal, MouthShut.com. Certain autos are equipped with locally-made music systems that play tracks from latest musical hits in volumes above normal levels.

Auto-wallahs are often negatively portrayed in Indian movies, sometimes as villains who kidnap passengers or steal their money. One exception is Tamil super star Rajinikanth's Basha. Rajnikanth is shown as the best of benefactors in the movie and thus he has been an icon among auto-wallahs. Auto stands in Tamil Nadu have pictures of Rajinikanth showing their devotion for him. A Kannada movie Auto Raja starring Late Shankar Nag is also an icon among auto-wallahs. Auto stands in Karnataka have pictures of Shankar Nag showing their devotion for him. Recently Super star Upendra made a film Auto Shankar as a tribute to the great actor. A Malayalam movie Aye Auto starring Mohan Lal as an auto driver also proved quite popular, and not just with auto-drivers.The James Bond film Octopussy features a chase scene in which Bond (Roger Moore) and a fellow MI6 agent (Vijay Amritraj) elude villains while they are in an auto. The sequence has one liners with Bond saying "Vijay, we have company" and Amritraj (Noted tennis player of the '70s) the driver replying "No problem sir, this is a company car!" while henchman Gobinda (Kabir Bedi) shoots at them with a shotgun. The chase ends with the rickshaw heading for a brick wall covered by Hindi film posters which actually turn out to be the well-hidden entrance to the local MI6 office. The thai film Ong-Bak features a spectacular tuk-tuk chase scene with many tuk-tuk stunts.In many cities in southern India, auto rickshaws have had a notorious reputation for being the vehicle of operation in criminal activities ranging from petty thievery and "chain snatching" (snatching necklace jewellery worn by Indian women) to murder. Auto Shankar, a notorious psychopathic killer operated in south Chennai as an auto driver in the 1980s. The image of auto rickshaw drivers in these cities has suffered greatly due to such incidents.A share auto on the roads of Chennai, a variation on the auto-rickshaw—engineered to carry more passengers

    Auto rickshaws have been modified in India to carry more passengers and are called share autos. Office commuters find this version more economical since the fare is shared by more people. Competition among 'share' auto-wallahs has led to the virtual standardization of fare per passenger based on their destination. Shared autos vary in both name and size from place to place. They are called "Phat-a-phats" in Delhi (which are actually variants of what were once horse-driven vehicles), "Shuttle rickshaws" in Ahmedabad, "Seven (7)-seater autos" in Hyderabad, "Tum-tums" in Pune and "Polaamboo vans" in Chennai. These large share autos shuttle over a distance of 10 to 15 km to gather a substantial number of commuters. Shared autos play an important role in transporting urban India, where state-organized public transport, while not quite crippled, is congested to a point of extreme unreliability, especially during peak hours. Or connecting the sub-urban areas where state owned transport facilities are very few and unfrequent.

1. Match the left part with the right:

2. Complete the sentences with the suggested words: find, passengers, modified, shared

Auto rickshaws have been _______ in India to carry more _______ and are called share autos. Office commuters _______ this version more economical since the fare is _______ by more people.