The main transport vehicle in India, the one that does not pollute the environment, hardly creates any traffic, is very mobile and of course is very interesting.
Rickshaws!
Here are some facts about them!
These vehicles, according to the official history, were invented by an American missionary who had to transport his invalid wife, so he invented this type of transport. Of course, later on, many people began to use the same type of vehicle and today it is part of many countries' cultures. The name comes from Japanese and means “human powered vehicle”
However, the first signs about rickshaws are very old, so I personally think that there are no inventors of this type of transport, but people who just signed under the article "inventor of the rickshaw”. I think so, because there are pictures from 1660 and from 1707 where rickshaws can be seen.
Rickshaws in India
Today, it is mainly tourist attraction, because most of the Indians migrated to motorised rickshaws, which are pretty different from the old fashioned ones, and less romantic, for sure.
The city that is most popular with its rickshaws is Calcutta. In the past, over 40 000 of them were crossing the city, but these days they are banned from the biggest streets and can be hardly seen. The pullers usually live in hostels for 100 rupees a month, which is around 25 dollars. This way they can send home more money and support their families. Unfortunately, some of the pullers cannot afford that, so they sleep on the streets or in their rickshaws.
So, if you know more about these, or you have tried them, please, leave a comment.
