If Mumbai is synonymous with kaali-peeli (black-and-yellow) taxis, then Delhi has its ubiquitous auto-rickshaws or autos in local parlance. The crowdfunded Taxi Fabric project, which was started in Mumbai to give the city's taxi seats a designer makeover, has now arrived in Delhi to refurbish the Indian capital's autos.

Like in Mumbai, the project will involve local designers and draw upon the city for ideas. The first auto features the Humayun Tomb, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is considered to be the precursor of the Taj Mahal. Its psychedelic style is inspired by Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night.

Image: taxi fabric

The auto was designed by Nasheet Shadani, a designer at the Wieden + Kennedy advertising agency, who chose the theme of tassavur, the Urdu word for imagination. "The true character of Delhi is in its monuments," Shadani told Mashable. "I wanted to create a painting that evokes a mood so that when people sit in the auto they are transported to some other space." This concept of an interior journey also plays on the design being inside the auto.

The driver Hari Om Sharma inside his redesigned autorickshaw. Image: TAXI FABRIC

The idea was also to celebrate Delhi's rich heritage, and help passengers in the auto look at it with new eyes. "There is a monument in every other street in Delhi but no one notices them," Shadani says. "Through this work I hope people can see it a little differently through their imagination."

Image: TAXI FABRIC

In the first phase, Taxi Fabric plans to redesign ten autos, in partnership with Manas Foundation, an organisation which has given gender sensitisation training to over 100,000 auto drivers in the city. "Each of these drivers is being rewarded for their good behaviour in a way," Ankita, a spokesperson from the foundattion says. "It's all about starting a conversation." While five of the autos will be inspired by Delhi, the other five will focus on gender.

Image: TAXI FABRIC

In the end, like in Mumbai, the Delhi chapter of Taxi Fabric hopes to add some colour and design to the omnipresent three-wheelers that define Delhi's roads. "When the driver, Hari Om Sharma, saw his auto, he exclaimed mazaa aa gaya (What fun!)," Shadani says. "The best part of the project is undoubtedly bringing art to the public."

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