A rickshaw ride in Sydney

INDRANIL HALDER recounts a ride that brings back memories of trips back home

As a globetrotter, the more I travel, the more I fall in love with idea of an environmentally friendly mode of transport. For me, the famous Calcutta rickshaw always comes up tops. This summer in the city of Sydney, waiting for a bus outside Queen Victoria building with my wife and daughter, I noticed a green rickshaw. It was waiting for a passenger next to the grand statue of Queen Victoria.

To me it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy a rickshaw ride to pick up my milk chocolate and golden hazelnut torte and chocolate chestnut cake from Guylian, the Belgian chocolate cafe at Circular Quay. It was en route to the Opera House, in time for my picnic with friends.

It was the first time my daughter was riding in a rickshaw in Sydney, although I grew up travelling in them in Bengal. Today, both Calcutta and Sydney use rickshaws as a mode of transport. On our trip I learnt that our rickshaw driver was a French lad. He arrived in the city at the start of summer, on a working holiday in Australia. He loves driving the rickshaw, regardless of whether it is in Sydney or London. For him, driving this ergonomically manufactured rickshaw has an added benefit: it keeps him physically fit. The rickshaw has become popular as tourist transport in cities like New York and Paris too.