The familiar stench of urine and exhaust
fumes assailed my nostrils while I calibrated my next move. A pretty lady
standing near me was pleasantly surprised when a rickshaw pulled up beside her
within minutes of her waiting for one. I am sure there exists a rule in the
mythical ‘Cab & Rickshaw Driver Code’ that compels them to ‘choose’ a female
passenger over a male counterpart! After a few more minutes of fruitless
‘hailing’, I began walking down the main road. Suddenly, a rickshaw pulled up
beside me. A benevolent, bearded, bespectacled face peered out at me
expectantly. “Yalli, saar?”, he asked. In disbelief, I sputtered out my
destination to which he agreed to take me for an additional ten rupees. I got
in before he could change his mind and off we went.
The inside of the rickety three wheeler was
adorned with myriad stickers of deities, cricketers, film stars and believe it
or not, a few politicians too! The mild aroma of incense hung in the air. A
quick glance at the fading laminated details of the rickshaw behind the
driver’s seat told me his name was Saeed Anwar. I told him to make haste as I
still had an outside chance of making it to the meeting on time. Flipping
through my file, I anxiously began preparing for the impending meeting, as we
sped across the bustling metropolis through moderate Monday morning traffic.
Whilst I was frantically composing e-mails on my BlackBerry (that wondrous
gadget!), Mr. Anwar rightly observed in broken English, “Very stress you are”.
Solicitously looking at me in his rear view mirror, he continued, “Young man
like you today..always stress..only job, no time!” Although piqued at being
interrupted, I was intrigued. I shut the file and got talking.
Over the next hour and a half, we talked
about everything possible! Religion, cricket, movies, women, politics, business
were all discussed with fervor. Mr. Anwar voiced his opinion most
uninhibitedly. His depth of general knowledge and grasp of complex economic
issues was astounding. He also displayed an inquisitive streak that had me
groping for answers on multiple occasions. I learnt about his family – a bedridden
wife, a college going son aspiring to join the civil services and a daughter
for whom he was ‘groom-searching’. Mr.
Anwar turned out to be a linguist; fluent in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam
and could speak a smattering of Hindi and English too! “I learning proper
English now”, he said proudly producing a self-learn English book from under
his seat. He told me how he pursued his hobbies of carpentry and kite-making on
weekends. He liberally doled out advice on seemingly everything! From judicious
time management to good health practices, from relationships to stress busting
techniques! All this whilst he drove like a manic Formula 1 driver, attempting
to get me to my meeting on time! This man was a repository of knowledge and
wisdom, brimming over. Time flew by as we shared a good laugh over the current
predicament of the Indian cricket team. Scudding over the pot-holed roads of
the Garden City, Mr. Anwar screeched to a halt before my office in an
incredible hour and a half. “Reached fast, saar!”, he declared with a toothy
grin. I paid him an extra fifty rupees which he accepted unwillingly and waved
a cheery goodbye. I hurried into the building, managing to make the meeting in
the nick of time.
On my way back home that evening, I
reminisced about the morning ride with Mr. Anwar as the surly rickshaw driver
crawled his way through traffic. I realized I had never met anyone like Mr.
Anwar. His supremely optimistic outlook, his hunger to readily imbibe and the
astounding passion with which he embraced life was something our generation
could definitely strive to emulate. Ever since, whenever I hail a rickshaw or a
taxi I am reminded of the endearing Mr. Anwar, his thought-provoking discourses
and his sticker-adorned rickety old rickshaw…
Pradyut Hande
The Writer is presently pursuing his Bachelors in Business Administration at NMIMS, Mumbai. He attempts to address myriad issues of both domestic and global consequence, ranging from Business and Economics to Geopolitics...from Sports to Arts and Culture.
The Writer is presently pursuing his Bachelors in Business Administration at NMIMS, Mumbai. He attempts to address myriad issues of both domestic and global consequence, ranging from Business and Economics to Geopolitics...from Sports to Arts and Culture.
