How many of us don’t crib/complain about the auto-rickshaw-drivers in Bangalore?
I am sure all of us. Each of us has a story to talk about. Including me, everyone has a problem with them (being rude, over charge, they never come to our destination). We are just living with such a problem every single day. This one incident which happened years ago put asides all the bitter experiences that I have with the auto drivers in Bangalore.
It was a Saturday late evening; I had a team dinner in Mainland China. I usually avoid dinners as I stay very far ( almost the other end of the town) and getting back home is a hassle. I finished my dinner and reached MG road to find an auto. It was almost close to 9’0 clock. I was shit scared to go back home in an auto. Usually I’ll have someone pick me up from home. Unfortunately that evening I was left with no option. So I started looking for an auto, which could drop me home. I stopped at least about 20 of them. No one was willing to come that far. I was even ready to pay them double the meter fare. I reached the auto-stand opposite to Food world on MG road. I went and pleaded almost everyone body in the stand. No one was ready to come. I was cursing each and every one. Finally, one middle aged guy said he would come. I was delighted and joyfully boarded the auto. I am usually on the phone or keep listening to music whenever I am in the auto so that I can avoid unnecessary conversations with them. The auto-driver looked very decent and did not attempt to talk to me. He was in his own world. I accidentally looked his face in the mirror; I saw tears rolling down his cheeks. He tried to wipe his tears and his phone started ringing. He answered the phone and began to sob. I turned off the music and asked him “Sir, is everything fine with you”? He wasn’t expecting that question and he did not respond. When I asked him again, he said “I am fine. It’s a curse to be born as poor”. I know for sure that something was bothering him. He was hesitant to speak and he got couple of more phone calls. From his talks I could pick up few words like kid, hospital and money. I understood what he was going through. I tried to pick up conversations with him. After a while he told me the whole story about how his son met up with an accident. He was admitted in the hospital and was recovery from the injury. He didn't want to keep him in the hospital for long as he had money. In fact, he didn’t have money to even get him out of the hospital. While he was saying all this he cried even more. I was so helpless listening to this. I didn't know how much he needed. I didn't really have a lot of money with me. I tried digging up my wallet to see how much cash I had. I had about 700 Rs. My auto fare was 150 Rs and I had another 550 Rs extra with me. I was sure that was not enough for the hospital bill. With all these questions in my mind, I was almost close to my home. I did not want to get off the rick in front of my house. I was afraid my parents would yell at me for coming home in an auto at that time. I got down on the main road and gave him the auto fare. I empathized with him about his son’s accident and assured him that his son would recover fast. I offered him the extra 550 Rs which I had with me. He was not ready to take the money. After forcing him for a very long time, he took it. He blessed me whole heartedly and left the place.
As the days passed by, I forgot about this incident completely.
Nearly a year after this incident something very unusual happened to me. I was on my way to meet a friend on MG road. I was in an auto-rickshaw and I didn't have change with me, so as the auto-driver. I decided to go into the Food World and buy something and get the change. When I came out of the Food World and was looking for the auto-driver. One middle aged guy came to me with full of smiles. He asked me “Do you remember me”? I said “no”. Then he explained me that he had dropped me to my place a year ago and about his son’s accident. I couldn’t recognize his face but then recollected the incident. He was so happy to see me. He said, “I was looking for you for the past one year, in fact I came looking for you near the place you got down the other evening. I knew I would meet you some day”. I was speechless standing looking at that man. I couldn’t believe that there are still people like him. He immediately pulled out 550 Rs from his pocked and handed over to me. He said “Thanks so much for the money the other day you gave, it really helped me to get my son out of the hospital. I wanted to repay this money to you and I was looking for you every day.I was not ready to take that money back from him but he insisted me so much, that I had to take it.I was so happy with his gesture. It’s so hard to believe that we still have people like him. When we have auto-drivers who are so rude, who overcharge us. It’s hard to find such a person.
Whenever I feel negative about any auto-drivers, this incident refreshes my memory and brings back a smile on my face :-)
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