Anachronistic symbol Kolkata's emblematic two-wheeled contraption has been a long-standing symbol of oppression and has often been used to depict wretchedness, as in Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zameen, a film that dealt with the disturbing state of poverty in new, independent India. The 1992 Om Puri starrer, City Of Joy, too recalled the travails of a rickshaw puller's life. But despite the negative portrayal in films and literature, even as the city has changed its skyline, the rickshaw has continued to trundle along the lanes.