Autos may have existed in the late 1970s in Andheri and the rest of the suburbs of Mumbai but that was an era when the suburbs were less crowded as large areas of Mumbai had still not developed or reclaimed from forests or swamps. The public transport BEST buses were far more popular than autos, as not only were they way cheaper than autos but buses were less crowded (as compared to the last two decades). One would likely get a seat if you are traveling a longer distance across suburbs (than just to the nearest station). As the suburbs (including Andheri) got more crowded with more townships and residential buildings coming up, the buses were unable to cope up with the increased demand. The share-an-auto came up (generally from the nearest train station to or from specific residential or office locations) that drove up the popularity of autos as they would have a fixed fare and far cheaper than riding an auto for oneself to the desired destination.
From earliest memories when internet was not around, FM radio almost non-existent or limited to perhaps one state-run All India Radio local channel, CD players were not invented yet but it was the era of cassette players, the autos in Mumbai would go around playing the latest songs on audio cassette (either Marathi or Hindi language). Those songs would be the pulse of what the popular songs would be either locally/ in the state (Marathi language) and generally folklore / seasonal to a religious festival (whether of Hindus, Muslims or Christians) of the month or nationally (Hindi language) from Bollywood hit movies of the time, or patriotic songs closer to say Independence Day/Republic Day. Another memory: The honking by autos would occassionally startle you when they would be competing with each other or with pedestrians to move ahead on the narrow roads.
Autos may have existed in the late 1970s in Andheri and the rest of the suburbs of Mumbai but that was an era when the suburbs were less crowded as large areas of Mumbai had still not developed or reclaimed from forests or swamps. The public transport BEST buses were far more popular than autos, as not only were they way cheaper than autos but buses were less crowded (as compared to the last two decades). One would likely get a seat if you are traveling a longer distance across suburbs (than just to the nearest station). As the suburbs (including Andheri) got more crowded with more townships and residential buildings coming up, the buses were unable to cope up with the increased demand. The share-an-auto came up (generally from the nearest train station to or from specific residential or office locations) that drove up the popularity of autos as they would have a fixed fare and far cheaper than riding an auto for oneself to the desired destination.
From earliest memories when internet was not around, FM radio almost non-existent or limited to perhaps one state-run All India Radio local channel, CD players were not invented yet but it was the era of cassette players, the autos in Mumbai would go around playing the latest songs on audio cassette (either Marathi or Hindi language). Those songs would be the pulse of what the popular songs would be either locally/ in the state (Marathi language) and generally folklore / seasonal to a religious festival (whether of Hindus, Muslims or Christians) of the month or nationally (Hindi language) from Bollywood hit movies of the time, or patriotic songs closer to say Independence Day/Republic Day. Another memory: The honking by autos would occassionally startle you when they would be competing with each other or with pedestrians to move ahead on the narrow roads.