About Auto Meter
What happens
- The flag is a weighted arm. A spring holds it up, gravity pulls it down once you push it past that point, and it lands on a stop with a clunk.
- The drums count like an odometer: a drum moves only while the one to its right rolls from 9 to 0.
- The meter sits on a sprung bracket, so potholes shake it.
- The fare is pretend, and time runs 20 times faster.
The Chennai bit
- “Meter podunga” means “put the meter on”. The reply is often “meter mela 20”: twenty rupees over the meter.
Inspired by An auto stand in Porur, Chennai, India.