The Rickshaw Man.

Once upon a time - on the road to Dum Dum airport in Calcutta:

The morning crowd flowed over the pavements, spilled into the road and covered it. A narrow tramline glistened as it weaved its way through the crowd. The red beret of a policeman appeared above the mass of humanity, arms waving in the manner of a conductor. Buses, cars and lorries heaved and rattled through the crowd like waves impatient to be done and die on a rocky shore. Trams lurched along their right of way, brushing aside protest. Bullock carts, tongas, trishaws and cyclists laced themselves about the heavier vehicles, scrambling for space, deaf to the exhortations of the policeman's whistle. Amber, red and green lights flashed dutifully. In the midst of all this, a rickshaw man tapped a small bell against the shaft of his rickshaw, crying a warning as he trotted along. His thoughts, his feelings and the risks he encountered belonged to him; but the onlooker could only hope that the rickshaw as a mode of transport would soon be retired forever, and that when the great call comes and the rest of humanity jostle and struggle to negotiate their way into Heaven, the rickshaw man will be called forward to enter without hindrance.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Stretch your limbs and bow your head.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Tap your bell until you're dead.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Halloa loud the warning cry.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Pull it till you die.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Cross the tramlines, pass the bus.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Dare you groan or make a fuss.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
As the cross-roads come in sight.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Faster, faster, with your might.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Use your feet to make it stop.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Keep on running till you drop.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Never mind your burning feet.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Hurry, hurry down the street.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
While you hunger while you thirst.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Till your heart cries out to burst.

Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
With the hope the God has given.
Pull your rickshaw, pull it quickly,
Till you set it down in Heaven.

(Spoken during an entertainment given in 1983 by Comex 11 at the Staff College, Wellington to much acclaim - where the idea was instantly grasped that the Rickshaw man represented humble folk everywhere).