The Auto Driver

 Auto walla-- One with kaki color shirt, always asks for more on the meter, If hired without a meter there will be no limit and depends on our knowledge distance experience and bargaining skills.  This is what we define them.It is almost always like this. Mainly we keep this in mind when we go to a new place.

        And if it is a place like Chennai- it should be kept in mind. But this time I had a different experience. I had to catch a private bus in koyembedu  to return to my hometown. It is about 8 km from place I am starting. So I made my mind to bargain and fix the price at maximum 100 Rs.

      Bidding good bye walked towards the main road. As it is being night and peek hours obviously auto walla knowing our urgency to catch the bus they will definitely charge high. As I walked 2 auto rickshaws crossed and failed to make a deal with them as they quoted 250 and 200 and not willing to get down from their prices. Being firm I walked a little more …. an auto driver crossed me with liight speed and stopped at a distance and turned back called me “do you need an auto”  I said yes he quoted 100 rs … WOW.. the same price in my mind it is as if he read my mind and with out a word i jumped into the auto and requested if he can make it a bit faster.

      He is in his formal attire got his shirt well tucked and may be aged 60. He asked me where I belong to and he said he is not an regular auto driver and so he asked for a low price. He will borrow a auto from his friend when ever needed. He just dropped his elder brother in the bus stand who came to visit him. He said he was also warned by his brother to go back home and call him without taking any passengers. But by seeing me, he felt can earn another 100.

     He is retired after working in crane spare parts manufacturing company. As he is in low cader job he doesn't get any pension. He is speaking good English. He got two sons and a daughter, all well educated, got married and settled in good position. His elder son did MBA and working for an MNC in Bombay. His younger son is an electrical engineer and works in power sector near Chennai. His daughter is a teacher and got married to a lecturer in a degree collage. I sensed the pride and satisfaction in his voice.

      He is driving in a different route as it is being late and there is huge traffic jam. He is explaining the route and about the developments happened in last decade and many things about metro rail which is being constructed. Described about the crane manufacturing industry and how the software revolution changed the fate of many people. We travelled around 20th and 21st century in those 30 min of journey.

 We reached our destination and he wished us happy journey and said “discipline and well planning always gives fruits”.  Yes, it his philosophy of life. His belief which bought him success and happiness. After getting into the bus and these 30 mins talk or rather call an experience dint let me sleep for a while.

   He is one among the unforgettable strangers I met. Stranger may be he is not a stranger any more.