A Ride to Remember

Travelling- one thing which we all love to do, and its an integral part of our day-to-day life. And if you stay in a place like Mumbai, then you are blessed with extra travelling everyday, whether you like it or not. And by the comment I just made, you might have guessed that I'm a Mumbai girl. But my case is different. People don't like travelling here but I love travelling and exploring new places. In Mumbai, no doubt the local trains are considered the life line of the city, but other transport modes like BEST buses, rickshaws and the yellow-black taxis also play an important role.

In Mumbai, nobody has even an extra second to waste, so when we get the opportunity to travel by cabs (yes, taxis are referred as cabs in Mumbai) we don't let it go. Every taxiwala is a bhaiya for us (as people have this term for them to call them) as they hail either from U.P or Bihar. And in our daily life we get into so many cabs that we don't even have a count of it. But few journeys change your life and your perspective about certain things. And I happen to have that journey. I belong to the media industry, so I have to be constantly on the move. My colleague and I were done with our media rounds and wrapping up for the day. We decided to take a taxi till station as we had no more strength left to walk. We were constantly waving at the taxis to stop but none were free. We thought it's hopeless to even look for a taxi as it was the time when everyone was in a hurry to go back home. We were about to give up when a taxi stopped in front of us ans we hopped in it.
Our journey began (yes i'm calling it a journey as it was an experience from which i learnt something) and my colleague and I got chatting. We informed the taxi driver to take us to Dadar station, but he said he has to go to Mumbai Central to park his taxi, as his driving time was coming to an end, so he would drop us there. We agreed to the offer. All this while, he was looking at us through the rear view mirror.On being asked the reason for he catching the train from Mumbai Central and not Churchgate (as you get a seat if you board the train from Churchgate during office hours), he smiled and replied that he had a "grouping" in the train and his friends would keep a seat for him. My colleague got down en-route his destination and I continued. He asked me where do I have to go, and when I mentioned Marine Lines, he said then why take a train for such a small distance, rather he'll drop me and still would have time to come back to park his taxi. I was more than happy.
Out of the blue, he asked me where do i come from, and the moment I said Bihar, a big grin spread across his face. He joyfully said that he also belongs to Bihar and exactly the same place as mine. He said that he completed his Masters in Arts, Geography to be precise and had applied for government sector exams, but couldn't make it through, so he gave up on that and was working in an office in Nariman Point. My inquisitive nature couldn't stop me from asking him another question, so I asked him the reason for driving a taxi even after being educated and working in an office! He smiled and said- "it's part time madam. I drive taxi to fulfill the demands of my children, I have two sons and I love them a lot. They ask me so many things and I earn well from the office job, but that's not enough in today's time. So I drive the taxi as a part time job in the evening after my office and make good by the end of the month. I'm happy and even my family is happy." I was thoroughly surprised by this and also touched by his story.  He sacrificed his sleep to keep his family happy and still there was no sign of tiredness on his face! He never complained about the hardships he was facing everyday, infact he was happy, as happy as anyone can be, i guess even more than a millionaire.
He reminded me of my old self, the way I was driven to make it big in my life. I was always passionate about whatever I did in my life, no matter how many sacrifices I had to make for it. I used to enjoy every moment of life and was always happy and joyful. But I guess inevitably I have become a part of this ugly rat race. To prove myself, I have lost myself somewhere. He helped me connect to my self.
We tend to loose ourselves amongst the crowd in the process of finding what we want in life, loose the precious moments which we should have lived, and later complain about it. But this man was a winner for sure. We might be a step ahead from him in terms of education and lifestyle, but he surely defeated us in terms of life. Thank you Mr. Sanjay Kumar Pandit ji for making me realise what I was missing in my life.

The Lost Book and Friend

Sometimes, somethings in life are supposed to happen, or much better destined to happen. I lost two priceless things from my life- my friend and the book i got from my friend, in a very short span of time. The first one i lost because of the circumstances of life, but the second one because of my cousin. 

I met my friend when i was a teenager. We never actually spoke a lot, but we knew we were friends (somehow that was the basic instinct). We had plenty of time to meet and chat, but we never actually did, because my friend was really shy in nature or maybe because he was scared of me..joke. Days passed, but we hardly socialized with each other. We used to say hi and bye for sure, but that was it. Few months later, we made some progress. It was winter and kids in the society used to play badminton. So one fine day, he also cam to play and that's when we got chatting. We shared a great camaraderie and it was fun. Days passed in a haze and he cleared his higher secondary and decided to do Engineering. He got admission in a very good college and he even called me home to show me the prospectus and everything related to his course. The glow and happiness on his face was enough for anyone to know how ecstatic he was and then he left the place to pursue his dreams. I had seen him working really hard to achieve his dreams, and it was totally worth. After sometime, it was my time to do the same, and I landed in Mumbai with heart full of dreams and aspirations. We were settled in different cities, and somehow we lost touch and were back to square one - not talking to each other.

Was it destiny or what, I don't know but i think we were supposed to meet. We met on Facebook (thanks to Mark Zucherberg for the innovation) and got chatting. And then he said he was also in Mumbai. I was happy as i found a known face in this crowd. It was like old times. We met and made fun of each other that how we used to behave and shy out from each other. We made the town alive by our mischief. Time just flew. I was happy to find my friend again. But as they say - happiness doesn't stay for longer period of time. The same happened with us. We had some sort of disagreement and the situation went out of our hands. When he was leaving Mumbai, i went to meet him. He gifted me a book - "Breathless in Mumbai", and wrote a message on the first page of the book. It read - "to the person, who loves Mumbai as much as I do". He kept waving at me from the airport entrance and that was the last I saw of him.

Back at home, in my spare time, I started reading the book. It was a collection of short stories which the author had experienced. I only got to read till 3-4 chapters. Then my cousin's wedding came up and I had to keep the book aside. My other cousin took the book from me to read, as I kept on praising about the book, and she took it to her office. There her friend borrowed it from her and somehow she lost it. And that was the last I saw the book.

I never got to finish the book. The stories were left unread. I felt as if the book was mocking me. I guess the book also decided to leave me halfway. Just like the book, my friend never came back. Now he's happily married and I'm damn happy for him. But the one thing which pinches me is that I came to know about him via mediums. I know life doesn't stop for anyone, it moves on. But i guess some stories are not meant to reach a climax- no matter good or bad. Some stories are better left unfinished.....