It’s a privilege for many: Anoushey Ashraf schooled for calling rikshaw ride a 'cheap adventure'

Anoushey Ashraf attempted to normalise public transport for the well-to-do on Wednesday but instead, got schooled for her tone-deaf tweet about rikshaws and what constitutes as public transport. The host and RJ called a rickshaw ride a “relatively safe and cheap” adventure. She demanded that people like herself be allowed to use the facility without turning heads.

Taking to Twitter, she shared a video of herself in a rickshaw to narrate, “I got offered a sympathy ride when someone saw me getting into a rickshaw today. I thought it’d be an adventure, was close to home, relatively safe (you can jump out) and cheap. But seeing a ‘well off’ person in a rick(shaw) can really worry people here! Normalise public transport for all.”

Given that rickshaws are expensive for a lot of people in this country, Ashraf’s tone-deaf remark did not sit well with her followers. Many referenced Ranbir Kapoor’s mocking of Nargis Fakhri in Rockstar which sees him making fun of her for goofing around and thinking she had an adventure.

Others felt her video channelled Priyanka Chopra’s “global citizen live” meme energy.

Mostly, users called her out for “fetishising” the middle-class struggle without realising that what she wants to normalise is already normal for many.

“If only she'd posted this with some irony it'd be genuinely funny, lol,” wrote a user.

“Yawr aaj bauhat crazy hogaya. I sat in a rickshaw. What an adventure with all that wind in my face. My hair is all messy now but it was so cheap,” commented another.

Most, however, told her why rickshaws and taxis do not qualify as public transport. “A rickshaw is a public transport? It's quite expensive and many people can't afford it.  The country is facing some major crisis but these ‘well off’ people are indifferent to it.”

A user even highlighted how the socioeconomic gap is getting “bigger by the day” in this country.

“It’s not an adventure for most people – it’s actually quite expensive now. For many, it’s a compulsion since they don’t own cars/bikes. Also, I don’t really think seeing a ‘well off’ person will worry anyone but more importantly, should people not worry if the person wasn’t ‘well off?’” asked a tweep.

Another explained that while Ashraf may have tried a rickshaw for “adventure,” it is a privilege for many. “People who *actually* use public transit know that taking a rikshaw is actually something of a privilege because it's faster and costs a LOT more than a bus ride. Daily commuters can't afford to splurge on it.”

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