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.