Thank You OLA!
I enter my room after a leisurely weekend and the first thing I do is turn the lights, but the room does not light up. Surprising! I was too lazy to go and check what the issue could be (not that I am a pro in fixing an electrical problem, rather someone who feels everything is a conductor and that I am prone to get electrocuted). Moreover, it was 3 in the morning and all I craved for was the luxury of my bed. So, as expected, I dropped dead on it and woke up only by a call from a delivery person of a shopping site. After navigating him in a half sleep half awake mode, I woke myself up to get ready for office. It was a Monday but call me blessed or lucky or whichever adjective you prefer, I do not get Monday Blues, simply put the sheer reason is that I love my work (oh yeah, you can be jealous if you wish to).
Monday passed by with me still being in the vacay mode. At the end of the day I got reminded of the power issue at home and all my energy seemed drained. Anyway, I had company to help me kill time; my colleague turned friend (no that’s not ironical for me). She accompanied me to my room and after a chitchat, we decided that we should go out for dinner as my induction was dead without power and I felt dead without it too. Ergo, we went to a place nearby, which is slowly and gradually turning into my to-go restaurant for any meal whatsoever.
By the time we were done with dinner, it was 10 o clock and somehow I did not want her to walk back to her room. Though she insisted she can walk and this would not be the first time, I booked an Ola auto. She took the auto number and OTP and went to the pickup point. In a while, I got a call from her saying the number plate has a different number than the one which I got while booking. I said it has happened to me too and no harm in that. Saying so I asked her to board the auto as the new number might not have been updated.
She called back again and told me that he is saying his phone does not have charge and wants to know if in my phone the trip has started as he fed the OTP. I could sense a sort of fear in her voice I was trying to know what was going on. Then she asked if I could cancel the trip although the OTP has been entered. I said I would cancel it and she did not take the auto. Some intuition worked there.
In the meantime, my phone started behaving weirdly to which I had to resort to the age-old troubleshooting process of turning the power off and on. It worked but by then the trip showed completed and I just let it be as I knew my friend did not take it.
Then we started communicating via messages and then I realized that the auto driver said his auto is not in working condition, so he got another auto and that was why the number did not match. And his phone did not turn off, but he switched it off giving all lame excuses.
We do not know if his intentions were good or otherwise, whether what he said were true or twisted talk. I do not have the slightest clue if my friend would have been dropped home safe had she boarded the auto and I do not wish to imagine the alternative. But at that moment she did what her gut feeling told her.
The next day I had to bring this to the notice of the transport company and I called them up narrating the entire incident. The executive who was talking to me on behalf of the safety team told me that it was wise on our part to not have taken the vehicle. He also said that it is not advised to board any cab or auto if there is any discrepancy from the booking details although there is a tracking device. He also said the matter would be further looked into and thanked me for letting them know of it.
I was relieved!
