This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience..
“Light kyon on karoon?” (Why should I switch on the lights?), said M.P Jha in a remarkably identifiable bihari accent, “ujala to hai?” (Its bright out there) pointing to the tungsten street lamps. Singh is one of the drivers of the iconic Yellow Ambassador Taxi in Kolkata, who picked me from the Howrah Railway station one late evening. Once a cult symbol of Calcutta and imbibed deep in Kolkata’s culture, with Hindustan Motors (HM) recent announcement of discontinuing the ambassador, 70,000 of Kolkata’s plying yellow ambassador taxis will one day find themselves as scrap parts.
With Sabyasachi Bagchi’s, (Vice Chairman - Regional Transport Authority, Kolkata, West Bengal) statement in August 2013, the state transport had opened the market to “more technologically advanced” vehicles like Maruti’s Wagon-R and Tata’s Indigo by extending the cash incentive of Rs. 25000 to newer taxis in a bid to increase self employment. These air-conditioned Radio cabs are white.
Cruising along Park Street, or lying in wait at outside the Ballygunge Phari (tram station), violating minor traffic rules, challenging the Tram and making space for itself in the crowded old China Bazar, they ferry passengers across the length and breadth of Kolkata.
One such ride led to many more.
Dropping me to South Lake City, R.P. Singh, another cab driver tells me the taxi permit and the taxi itself is an investment of 7 lakhs. Meters are digital, market competitive. And scrapping the taxis more profitable than selling it back to Hindustan Motors (HM).
With the average life of an ambassador taxi at a decade at max, soon the yellow symbol of Kolkata’s historical wheel(y) past would lose its colour to white.
Base: New Delhi & Agra, India
Check out our Photo Shop
Lens-eye view: Meet photographer Udit Kulshrestha who documented the Wancho tribe and loves to capture the many colours of life. : Indojit D Chaudhari
How A Delhi-Based Photographer Captures The Intensity And Mystique Of A Headhunting Naga Tribe Of Arunachal : Sumati Mehrishi
Fearlessly documenting the indigenous, headhunting Wancho Tribe of North East India, photographer Udit Kulshrestha talks about his journey of working on this series and why it is intrinsically about identities : Arts Illustrated
© Copyright Udit Kulshrestha 2024 | All rights reserved