Mumbai’s taxi drivers browned off over livery change 孟買計程車司機不滿被迫改變車身顏色

 ◎俞智敏
Drivers of Mumbai’s black and yellow taxis, a distinctive feature of city life for nearly a century, are up in arms after the state government unveiled plans to change their colour to beige and brown.
孟買的黑黃雙色計程車近一世紀來一直是該市的特色之一，現在這些計程車司機卻對邦政府公布要把車身顏色改成淺棕色與咖啡色的計畫感到非常火大。
Maharashtra state transport minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said all new taxis coming into service in India’s financial and entertainment capital would be painted beige with a nut-brown trim.
馬哈拉施特拉邦運輸部長帕提爾表示，所有打算在這個印度金融和娛樂首都營業的新計程車，都必須把車身漆成淺棕色，再加上咖啡色飾條。
But the largest union representing drivers hit out at the proposal, saying they had not been consulted.
但代表計程車司機的最大工會卻對這項提案提出抨擊，因為當局並未先徵詢司機們的意見。
"There’ll be two types of taxis in Mumbai：black and yellow ones and new vehicles in the new colour. People will get confused," said the general secretary of the Mumbai Taximen’s Union, A.L. Quadros.
「未來孟買會有兩種計程車，一種是黑黃雙色的，另一種是塗上新顏色的新車。民眾一定會搞混，」孟買計程車司機工會秘書長夸德羅斯說。
"The minister has taken this decision without consulting the union. Changing the colour of taxis is not a burning issue. He should be concentrating on other things."
「部長作這項決定前根本沒徵詢工會意見。改變計程車身顏色並非緊迫議題。他應該把心力放在其他事情上。」
Quadros, whose union represents 40,000 of the 55,000 taxi drivers plying Mumbai’s streets, said the tinkering made no sense, as the vehicles were as synonymous with the city as black cabs in London or yellow taxis in New York.
在每天穿梭孟買街頭的5萬5000輛計程車中，有4萬名司機是夸德羅斯所屬工會的成員，夸德羅斯表示，政府的新政策毫無意義，因為黑黃雙色計程車已成為孟買的同義詞，就好比倫敦的黑色計程色或紐約的黃色計程車一樣。
Motorised taxis arrived in the then city of Bombay in the early 20th century and have become an icon represented in everything from Bollywood movies to commemorative tea towels and t-shirts.
計程汽車是自20世紀初期開始出現在孟買街頭，並已成為孟買象徵，從寶萊塢電影到紀念茶巾與T恤上，到處都可見到黑黃雙色計程車的身影。
新聞辭典
brown off/brown someone off：俚語，指生氣，如 I am really browned off at you!/You really brown me off! （你真的讓我很火大！）
tinker：動詞，指拙劣地修補，亦常指徒勞無功地瞎忙，如I wish the government would stop tinkering with the health service.（真希望政府不要再隨便亂修改健保制度。）
synonymous：形容詞，指意義相同或類似的，或指意涵非常接近的，如His name was synonymous with greed.（他的名字就等於貪婪。）