How many times have you wanted to say this to the “intentionally” deaf and irritating rickshaw and taxi drivers? How many times do you think – I should report him? If you are like me who travels everyday via the local transport in amchi Mumbai then I bet you have definitely thought of this once a month at the least!!! :-)
And the day dawned that I made up my mind to do just that! Today!! As usual I was “begging” the passing rickshaw drivers to stop and take me to my destination – a regular morning exercise, when I realised that there were suddenly a number of them refusing to go to the same destination not only to me but to other stranded passengers too. Turning to my colleague, I stated that we should just get into and sit inside one of the black and yellow coloured beetle shaped contractions without informing them of our destination.
As one of them approached I jumped into the auto and stated my destination to which the driver turned and said “Nahi jayega! (will not go)”. By then I had reached the last strand of my patience and I told him that if he didn’t want to take me to my destination then to take me to the nearest Police Station where I could make a complaint against him. With sarcasm he said, sure, he would take me to the police station. As he started his vehicle, he began to give me an explanation about why he would not be going to my destination – apparently the clutch of his auto was giving him trouble. I replied that if that was the case then, why was his meter showing “For Hire”? To this he replied that the meter had no connection whatsoever to the situation. If this dialogue had happened in a calm manner maybe I would have stepped off and looked for another rickshaw, but the driver thought that he could get away by speaking arrogantly to a female and that is something that I would not accept!!
So, I proceeded to the Police Station, wherein when I went in to register a complaint I was received with politeness and a ready helping hand. At the moment I was registering my complaint, the haughtiness vanished from the driver’s demeanor and his tone dripped with sugar as he tried explaining his point of view to the police inspector who was kindly ignoring him till the formalities with me were completed. After my complaint was registered the police officer went a step ahead and being a complete gentleman stopped another rickshaw for me to continue to office. With a smile and a huge thank you I stepped in and made my way to work.
As I made my way towards office, I felt a sense of pride that I had stood up for my rights and was not reduced to dancing to the whims and fancies of the rickshaw drivers! So don’t get trodden over by the uncaring and rude drivers, just go ahead and assert yourself and say “Chalo Police Station!!” :-)
And the day dawned that I made up my mind to do just that! Today!! As usual I was “begging” the passing rickshaw drivers to stop and take me to my destination – a regular morning exercise, when I realised that there were suddenly a number of them refusing to go to the same destination not only to me but to other stranded passengers too. Turning to my colleague, I stated that we should just get into and sit inside one of the black and yellow coloured beetle shaped contractions without informing them of our destination.
As one of them approached I jumped into the auto and stated my destination to which the driver turned and said “Nahi jayega! (will not go)”. By then I had reached the last strand of my patience and I told him that if he didn’t want to take me to my destination then to take me to the nearest Police Station where I could make a complaint against him. With sarcasm he said, sure, he would take me to the police station. As he started his vehicle, he began to give me an explanation about why he would not be going to my destination – apparently the clutch of his auto was giving him trouble. I replied that if that was the case then, why was his meter showing “For Hire”? To this he replied that the meter had no connection whatsoever to the situation. If this dialogue had happened in a calm manner maybe I would have stepped off and looked for another rickshaw, but the driver thought that he could get away by speaking arrogantly to a female and that is something that I would not accept!!
So, I proceeded to the Police Station, wherein when I went in to register a complaint I was received with politeness and a ready helping hand. At the moment I was registering my complaint, the haughtiness vanished from the driver’s demeanor and his tone dripped with sugar as he tried explaining his point of view to the police inspector who was kindly ignoring him till the formalities with me were completed. After my complaint was registered the police officer went a step ahead and being a complete gentleman stopped another rickshaw for me to continue to office. With a smile and a huge thank you I stepped in and made my way to work.
As I made my way towards office, I felt a sense of pride that I had stood up for my rights and was not reduced to dancing to the whims and fancies of the rickshaw drivers! So don’t get trodden over by the uncaring and rude drivers, just go ahead and assert yourself and say “Chalo Police Station!!” :-)
11 comments:
Awesumm...or shld i say "ROCK ON":-).........
Regards,
Reinwald
Excellent ...u really did a good job :)
Bravo.. :)
Believe me when i saw there wud be noone else who understands this situation of yours better than I do. I I am equally frustrated with this stuff and have shared this frustration with many friends many times. It's just another daily-routine for me as well. Sometimes when you are getting really late, or its raining like hell, I just loose my cool. Like you said, if they (rickshaw drivers) talk nicely knowing that they are doing wrong but can't help it coz they might have proper reasons like "Gaadi dene ka hai" (shift is ending and have to give the rick) or "gas nahi hai" (not much CNG left), i let them go otherwise when i ask them and they reply arrogantly, i start the same things "Chalo PS", or i make sure that i give him a nice long lecture (a bit rudely, to satisfy my ego). Sometimes whn you stop them and they dont wanna go, they won't reply only and just leave. I always hate it (like dont I atleast deserve a reply). I remember, number of times they ask you about the destination from the other side of the road expecting you to scream. I hate this thing too. I stand up for my rights (sometimes) like you did (coz by now, i know that "chalo police station" wala thing won't gimme anything in long term. It will be an everyday thing then." But we'll have to think of a better and more feasible solution for it. I have thought about sending an article to Mumbai Mirror or Mid-day (these days they do publish things like these) coz when the thing is in the news and is being talked about, it always works in some sort of way, but never actually did it. Dont know why ??
So, I make it a point that I just hop-in everyday and then tell them about the destination (this reduces the chances of refusal as you are already IN. It really works sometimes).
And since they sometimes have proper reasons, my suggestion is that “We can make it compulsory for every rickshaw to have a little slate-board where they can regularly update two things “what time the shift is ending” and “how much CNG is left” (coz these are the 2 proper reasons I can think of). So, atleast they wont be able to give you this 2 most frequently used reasons. I know its not that gud an idea but ........ It has to start from somewhere someday.
This might also help in some cases.
http://www.trafficpolicemumbai.org/Complaint%20Form%20aginst%20ART.html
now thats pure guts...
how many times r v made to bend by this frustration of something injustice..
still not doing anything against it..
just coz.. who wanna get into that mess..
n very few got that guts to rise above.. n help make this society a better place.
hats off.. chan$$$l
Hey Nikandhil,
Thanks for your response!! And I can see that you too are truly a frustrated co-passenger!! Thx for the complaint form!
Thanks guys for your reponses!!
You are my HERO!!! :D
Way to go, showed your Sardarni Feistiness and Parsi Guts... :-P
Nice work :)
Wish you had accompanied my to my trip to Banglore. We really needed something like this out there :)
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