He was a better man on a day that mattered
How we miss everyday opportunity to be that person
It was a pleasant morning in Mumbai with light drizzle. I was fully ready 45 minutes earlier than the commute time expected to reach my meeting venue. Since I thought I was early enough and did not expect much traffic on a Sunday morning, I ordered the Uber Pool.
And then it all went downhill. But let me backtrack.
We were happily on our way and I was enjoying the cloudy skies that were turning more grey by the minute. As we crossed the Sea Link, the rain was pounding harder on the window glass. The driver got a notification on his mobile saying a passenger has ordered the pool as well. I looked at the watch, we were comfortably 40 min ahead still.
As we turned into a crowded area where roads were converging into alleys and stray cows covered the sides, I felt anxiety building in the pit of my stomach for the first time. ‘By the small temple?’, the driver was still trying to decipher. 10 minutes went by trying to find the temple next to the cowshed where my pooling partner was supposed to be waiting.
‘Hurry up please, ask her to come soon or cancel,’ I anxiously spoke up for the first time. It was an important meeting for me. I had already started resenting this stranger who did not have pooling etiquettes!
5 minutes later, with still no sight of them, I rebelled. ‘It’s not my problem, you should cancel it. Why are you wasting my time?’
The driver was still talking to her. I figured from his still-calm way of speaking that we were apparently at the wrong temple. What the fuck, I thought. How can this driver be so inefficient! He made a U turn with much difficulty before honking his way into another alley.
Upon my further protest, he said the other passenger is accompanied by her elderly mother and cannot walk too much.
‘It’s raining Madam, she cannot walk far,’ was his response. Are you serious dude?
He kept going out of his way to locate them. I was pissed off for a moment, contemplating leaving a feedback with Uber that the driver was not professional. My well-educated mind was already rationalizing whose fault it was. How he could have dealt with the situation and how can I get Uber to pay for this.
Me, me, me — I was thinking how I have been wronged.
Soon, we picked the other passenger and her elderly mother. The stress was palpable, the woman was irritable and defensive. She helped her mother sit next to me in the back seat and then sat in the front one. She had already started reasoning for her inability to help the driver find her sooner. ‘You should have followed what I was saying. It was the blue temple, you took the wrong turn.’
But my attention was waning. I was acutely aware of the old woman sitting next to me. Although I barely looked directly at her, I could feel her frail hands clutching at the edge of the seat. The road to the hospital wasn’t too long but it was raining cats and dogs now. ‘Not this turn, I said the other one.’ There were few more missed turns and delays.
The lady was constantly blaming Uber maps and the weather and the whole world for this day. She was on a verge of anxiety attack as far as I could see.
Who wouldn’t be anxious in such a situation, I thought.
For the first time, it occurred to me what she is really panicking about. I could sense she is scared whether she would reach the hospital on time or not. Apparently they had an appointment with a busy doctor.
But instead of saying that, she was saying everything else to appear normal — to appear in control. Don’t we all do that?
The driver kept talking politely to her and me throughout the way, bearing brunt from both of us. I was now 5 minutes late already but by the time we dropped them at the hospital, I was only thinking it could easily have been me and my mom. We could be stuck like this on a rainy morning, waiting for a cab to find us in an insanely crowded area of Mumbai. Hoping that the driver doesn’t cancel upon us, that the doctor doesn’t leave without seeing my mother.
What did the driver do any of this for? The woman did not appear any grateful to him. I was half bitching already. He could have easily canceled that ride, saved himself the inconvenience — no one could have blamed him.
But perhaps that is what generosity really is — to do the right thing especially when you do not need to, especially when you will get nothing from it.
If I punish the driver today, I thought, for a good hearted gesture, it won’t be long before he would get more ‘professional’ and cancel passengers who are delaying even if for genuine reason. That is a bigger price to pay — after all, we are already losing humanity bit by bit.
‘Sorry for being rude,’ I whispered before getting down at my destination. He took the cash, gave me back my change and drove off with nonchalance. I ran to the covered pavement and gave 5 Star rating to the driver and left a compliment with Uber.
I’m glad he was not too professional.
I hope he will continue listening to his heart.
I made it to the meeting not devastatingly late and even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have regretted.
This is Tejas, a good hearted guy driving a taxi, with more class than many suited man can never dream of. It is not easy to be an Uber driver especially in a city like Mumbai where delays, crowd, and distances make the customers bitchier than usual. But in midst of all, he stayed grounded on a morning that mattered a lot to someone.
And that is how you learn the most invaluable lessons of life — in strange places.
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