Because of the accident, I was forced to book autos to and fro to my office everyday. I can very well buy at least 7kgs of onions for the total cost that I needed to pay for OLA cab during a single trip to my work place. Such was the effect of *2.4 times the normal rate for OLA cab in the peak hours. Still, without burning my pocket, OLA auto was the bright and shining knight-in-armor to me in the desperate hour of need, literally and metaphorically.
It has been more than 10 days since I have been a regular customer for OLA. There were also definite clear and visible signs that my injuries were also on the right track of healing. I decided to make use of Baasha's alter-ego's automobile until my injuries were completely healed up.
Instead of having an insipid and monotonous journey, I used to have engaging discussions with the auto-wallahs to know and understand their lives from their eyes. Most of them with whom I spoke to were in the age group between 35 and 40 years. They had certain things in common - rented auto, 2 kids, ailing mother/ father / mother & father, night "enjoyment" with friends, go home late after booze, get up in the morning and work for the loop to continue again and again. They were also seriously fed up with auto politics in the stand. I empathised with them as I had also undergone harsh office politics when I initially joined in my current company.
It was then that I encountered a one-of-a kind person during such a trip to office. As usual, I had booked OLA auto in the evening to return to my home after a long day's work.The first booking was cancelled. After several repeated attempts, I was finally able to book another auto. The return ride turned out to be more than just a conversation. It was intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying.
The conversation started with the basic traffic when out-of-nowhere a biker suddenly crossed in front of us and would have been gravely hurt if it weren't for the auto driver's strong and crisp brakes. Out of an impulsive outburst of emotion, I was deploring the way that the current two wheelers were driving crazy in the city - zigzagging and criss-crossing as if they were playing "Zippy race" video game. To which he responded, "Not all of them used to drive in such a manner, sir. I have been driving for more than 30 years and I have not caused or been involved in any accident." I was amazed at this man's quick jump at recognizing and pointing out the fallacy in my opinion and even more amazed when he responded to it in such a cool and composed manner despite it was he who was directly involved with the situation. Muttering a sheepish apology for generalizing things, our discussion turned to the whys and wherefores to the intensity of the traffic prevailing in the city. He was giving me multiple reasons like bad planning, poorly maintained roads, many number of cars due to reduced bank rates, corruption in contracts, pathetic construction etc. Then, he continued and started to speak why the autos were in yellow color in Tamil Nadu by giving me scientific explanation and justification for the choice of color.
Just like switching gears in his auto, he changed the topic by lamenting on the politics in his auto stand. He held the same view point as mine - When people come together, politics happen! All we can do is just do our work sincerely, be patient and go silently without engaging in any verbal combats. I was very happy hearing it. Before, I could speak another thing, he started to speak on the present politics in the state and country and was praising Modi's abroad visits for bringing in FDIs into the country. I was thoroughly impressed with him then as even many educated people failed to understand and had found Modi's foreign visits as mere waste of time and money. Inquiring into his educational qualification, I found that he was 12 th pass. But due to his family circumstances, he was forced to give up his studies and work for the family. However his hunger for knowledge never diminished even one jot. He was up-to-date with the current events. I complimented him that he was highly knowledgeable. To which he replied instantly and humbly that just because a person knows something in the world, it doesn't mean they know everything. Likewise, just because a person knows many things in this world, it still doesn't mean they know everything. At this juncture, I realized and understood that he was also a very philosophical person who used to reflect immensely for any given situation.
Our conversation careened to his day to day operations. He was telling that most auto drivers earned around Rs. 1000 - Rs 1400/day driving from morning 7am till 10pm, paid their daily rents, petrol expenses,drank heavily and finally saved around Rs.300 - Rs.600 /day whereas he used to begin his daily drive after dropping his kids at school by 8am, roam completely till 7pm and still used to save around Rs 800 - Rs 900/day. He told me that he observed the other drivers that paying daily rents and drinking used to cost them a hefty sum. So, he calculated and decided that having an own auto and paying the EMI was much cheaper and economical than shelling out his hard earned money as daily rent to some Ram, Ramesh and Mahesh. Also, he abstained from drinking which contributed to his savings considerably thus enabling him to purchase a house for his family. Further, he added that since he usually winds up his work by 7pm and return to his home, he would have sufficient time to play with his kids and spend time with his family thereby having a healthy work-life balance.
I was lost for words. What I had toiled and learnt in MBA for 2 years, this person had learnt it by mere observation and implemented it in his real life ensuring that he does not commit the mistakes made by others. Here was a person who is a pure Finance genius, HR manager and Operations optimizer without a MBA degree. Not to mention his impeccable sales skills. The way he was driving the topics with such ease and flair infused with sound logic and profoundness, I was overawed and overwhelmed with emotion and thought that if this person had continued to study further. he would have surely made a dent in this world.
It was well-past 8pm. The traffic moved slower than the slowest snail in the world. Finally, after a snail crawl, we arrived at our destination. The meter read Rs. 163. I gave him Rs. 200 and asked him to keep the change. He promptly replied it was against his principles and value system to accept anything more than the assigned amount of Rs. 173 (Rs.163 + Rs. 10). He gave me the remaining change, wished me speedy recovery and sped off to his next destination - Home!
It was a very different and a new experience for me. I do not know whether I would meet another person like him again in my entire life. But, I felt happy for him at the end of the day for his character and attitude towards life. Also, the incident made me to understand that life is an extremely big mysterious force that keeps unravelling itself very slowly at the right time at the right place through the right person to the concerned person.
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