The coronavirus pandemic has brought in multiple changes in the way people lived earlier. With transport having faced a major hit due to the lockdown, there have been many viral images of autorickshaw drivers who have transformed their vehicles to mini-homestays or a space with all the necessities needed to keep the virus at bay.
In a recent example, an auto-rickshaw driver from Odisha's Bhubaneshwar has converted his vehicles into a mini-garden decorated with plants, aquarium, cages with birds and rabbits.
Sujit Digal, who hails from a village called Kandhamal, says this transformation reflects his village life which he misses.
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Speaking to ANI, he said, "I hail from a village in Kandhamal and I miss my native place. I feel suffocated in this big city."
Odisha: Sujit Digal, an auto driver in Bhubaneswar has converted his vehicle into a mini garden with plants, an aquarium, cages with birds & rabbits. He says, "I hail from a village in Kandhamal and I miss my native place. I feel suffocated in this big city." (12.10) pic.twitter.com/vaCTP1DjWd— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2020
Unable to visit his village quite often, Digal came up with this idea of renovating his vehicle in such a way, that it gives him enough village vibes to get going with the city life.
Since I can't go to my village often, I thought of designing my auto in this way. The plants and birds provide a vibe of my village: Sujit Digal, an auto driver in Bhubaneswar #Odisha (12.10) https://t.co/3onei2jF8B pic.twitter.com/ZKcQ1qESyg— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2020
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However, Digal's modification of his vehicle didn't quite go down well with netizens, who opposed the idea of having animals caged inside because of his own satisfaction.
Plants: Cool👍🏼Caged animals and birds: NOT COOL. NOT OKAY.🙂👎🏼— 🇮🇳🐼 (@IndianPandaa) October 12, 2020
Plants are good but not caged birds please. Rabbits, fish, and the birds- they'd actually get very scared in a moving vehicle— Dr Aiman Almas (@AimanAlmas) October 12, 2020
Imagine if you are getting suffocated , what abt the rabbits and the birds ?— Partha (@380arjun) October 12, 2020
They birds panic when they hear loud noises and he's keeping them in an auto whole day 🙂👌— nitti is celebrating jimin day ✨ (@ksjmoon92) October 12, 2020
Imagine how much these birds must be saffocating. Free them immediately !— Lalit M Bhagat (@lalitbhagat) October 13, 2020
The world at present is witnessing many bizarre and new inventions to cope up with a time gripped by the coronavirus pandemic. In another example, an auto-rickshaw driver in Kerala has installed a hand washing system with a soap dispenser inside his vehicle to ensure sanitisation, which has become the need of the hour.
A viral video of the same shows how the driver encourages all his passengers to first wash their hands before hopping into the auto.
The video's popularity also caught the attention of Indian business Harsh Goenka, who took to Twitter to also share the video. Captioning it, he said, “Auto rickshaw with hand washing and sanitizer facilities #CoronaInnovation."
