Taxi Driver 1: I met him twice coincidentally. The first time round I had asked him whether he knows any shopping center close by. Second time round, he remembered me and enquired whether I found it or not.
Taxi Driver 2: An old gentleman, seemed very knowledgable. For a change, could speak very good English. When I complimented him on that, he told he knows 4 languages, has worked in Agriculture Research. He knew about Mumbai, because a long time ago, he had a girlfriend from Mumbai!. We had a nice conversation for those 15 minutes, and while leaving he said philosophically, "nice meeting you. My grandfather always used to say - Trees do not meet, people meet!" :-)
Taxi Driver 3: He had no idea where Kleine Kloosterstraat is, he searched for a wrong road in his navigator. We ended up roaming around Brussels for 30 mins finding the location, which normally takes 10 mins from my apartment. The meter was shooting up with every passing minute - at the end it showed 30.5 EUR, that otherwise reads something like 12 or 13 EUR. While I was worrying about the unnecessary extra euros I will have to shell out, he tells me - "Don't worry. We will find the way. And don't worry about the extra money". And indeed he sticks to his word, and takes only 15 EUR from me. (well, a little more than usual, but much better than 30!)
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I'm guessing a lot of people in India would like to make a few cynical remarks about how Indian taxi drivers and rickshaw guys like taking you on a tour of the city, just so they can make you shell out some extra cash.. And I'm not sure I can blame them.
But I have known a Richshaw wallah for over eight years now and everytime I see him waiting for a customer outside my society, I get philosophical thinking about the strange ways in which you meet people and bond with them for the strangest reasons!
This rickshaw guy used to drop me to my college in the 11th and 12th standard on occasions.. Then during my engineering years, I moved to the hostel.. After two years, when I got back to live at home instead, this guy was still there and he helped me move back from hostel. I had a very sad two wheeler back then which would keep breaking down. And everytime it did, this rickshaw wallah was practically always there to drop me to college.. I remember the first time he did, he was very happy that I was studying futher. Spoke about his son who also wanted to be an engineer...
After college however, when I bought my car, was on my own again. But this one time when Neeloo (my car :)) met with an accident and had to get serviced, I was struggling to find a rick to get to office. And then out of nowhere, he came once again to rescue me and was even more elated to see me working!
I find it ironic how my life had changed so much and how his probably had not and that he was still there. Waiting. To Help me out perhaps :)
Yes, of course, you meet such people in India, a greater probability of that happening in fact.
In foreign countries, the most irritating factor is not having people on the road. So, if you are lost, all you have is the navigator. It is impressive in fact to see it in action, you enter the addresses, it shows you a map and actually shows you how you are proceeding along the way.
I wonder whether we even need a navigator in India (of course we need the infrastructure first), if you are lost, just open the window and ask somebody on the road, and you are done! :-)
I have loved the taxi drivers in Brussels - especially the female ones who know to drive, but don't know the roads :) Sorry I am being sexist, but that's the reality!
I met this one lady who used to always pick me up - of course, if you have their number, you can ensure that this happens :) She loved Indians and everything Indian, and we used to have endless conversations on pickles and lassis, and there was one time I was very keen on inviting her home - I used to stay with a guy in Brussels then, not in a hotel :)
Another interesting incident has been with navigators - we did find the road, but the navigator took us to the other end, which had been barricaded up :) There was no "alternate route" feature, so finally I ended up trudging the entire length of the road in bliding snow with two suitcases!
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