Free Ride

It was a little time back when I met this autowallah that I figured out that .......ummmm...........a lot of things..... Well.........hmmm.....so, there was nothing special about him, looked just like a regular auto-rickshaw guy, beatle leaf in mouth (paan khaayo saiyaan hamaro types), regular moustache, bald head, in uniform with shirt buttons untucked till chest, healthy physique (maybe in his 40s), and sandals which were looking new. On the other hand, auto was quite tempting. Looking like it was one of the creations of Manish Arora, bright colours, photos of gods jazzed up with those bollywood posters. Imagine Lord Ganesha sandwiched between Shahrukh and Kajol on a laminated red and pink flowery background!! A puff of smoke could have made you do hare rama hare Krishna in there. And yes, how can one forget that towel seat cover with a big Ferrari on it! i cant say anything about that Ferrari but when the rickshaw screeched on one of red lights avoiding an accident, i felt like sitting next to James Bond in his Ashton Martin. And Bhaisaab was so cool that he spit his tobacco, lighted his beedi and started again. MAN!! He became my role model, his act could have given western cowboys a complex.

Bringing me out of my imagination he asked me where am I from, a question that I normally don’t feel like answering. Anyways, after a little thinking I said I am from Haryana and things followed like – I am from Haryana too, from Bilaspur and after five more minutes of discussion he came out to be from my paternal village, and better part- he remembered my dad’s name. There was suddenly an element of connection between two of us. It is interesting how the world suddenly shrinks and you see and meet your own people in totally different ends of the world, but the reason for my happiness was something else, I went like ‘bingo’ I saved sixty rupees of auto fare (the price came down after much of bargaining). I mean he wont ask for fare out of courtesy, as we are from same place. So talks kept going on, right from queries about my family to the usual FAQs about my eyebrow piercings and my studies.

He lighted up another beedi as we were struck in a traffic jam, I was feeling an urge for a cigarette too, I felt the packet of Marlboro in my pocket but I cant take it out, suddenly the friendly rickshaw driver became a foe of mine, I cant light up my cigarette infront of someone from my village. And he was there sitting infront of me lighting up cheap, harmful beedis one after another as if he was teasing me.

I guess we were struck in jam for almost fifteen minutes, talks continued about ‘dilli ka traffic’. Traffic slowly loosened up and we zipped through the traffic towards the destination. still controlling myself from taking out my cigarette and thinking about sixty rupees that I might save, I thought of getting down half a kilometre before so that I can smoke atleast one of the Marlboros before reaching my flat. Then the pleasant weather changed my mind, I thought maybe a cup of tea with my fellow driver wont be a bad idea, so asked him for tea and guided him towards our tea point (sutta point sounds odd so changed the name!) infront of the college. What followed could have led me straight to the cemetery, a sharp turn, almost killing a cow and ourselves, a feat that could have sent even Mr. Bond to St. Patricks. As soon we stopped and stepped towards rajiv (tea point owner), he pulled out a cigarette and handed me( in my mind i went like ‘shit! now auto guy will tell in the village and the thing will soon reach to the ears of my family and they will beat the hell out of me not because I smoke but because of the reason they learnt it from someone else’). I quickly forwarded it to the driver friend, as he lighted it up, asked me whether I smoke or don’t, I thought it would be better to be honest and said yes. So, here I am sharing a cigarette with an auto driver, I was finally relieved as I sipped tea and smoked and added to the air pollution! But was this the end? No, not at all, as the talks continued he asked whether I have ever tried a beedi or hookah, and as the things went on, I shared a beedi (though i didn’t like the flavour and felt like puking) too.

So it was time to bid goodbye, the smile came back to my face (yippee! I am gonna save sixty bucks, still for formality I must ask him). I pulled out my wallet and took out hundred bucks thinking he will resist it, he took the note and said ,”abhi khulle nahi hain, koi baat nahi aap toh ghar ke ho baad mein hisaab ho jayega”. And there i was standing still, trying to figure out what has happened, he was gone making extra forty bucks out of my free ride!!