Tet-e-tet with a Rickshaw driver saa'b

A normal day at office, spent the second half roaming around in the market getting the feel of the market mood and checking out the display of our products in the stores. Its always a fight for space in Mumbai and if you are in FMCG/Retail sector, your entire life is about fighting for space. That space later...

Just after coming out of Inorbit mall, satisfied that my products are moving fast from there and praying at the same time that I get an autorickshaw without much delay as normally i have to ask 10 drivers before one agrees to come to Kandivli (E). This time I was lucky (like in the morning when I got the bus as soon as I reached the stop and on top of it got a seat also inside -- lucky day for me, i wish i had a job interview at HLL today.)... where was I... ahh, the auto.. yeah, the first rickshaw driver i asked agreed to take me home. I told him dude, my wife is waiting for me at home for a tea and take me from the shortest way possible. Dont ask me and decide yourself. He said OK, "will take you from the shortest route". Life was good and i was singing my way back home. Suddenly I saw a huge traffic jam, or so i thot. The driver told me its not traffic and its a long que of auto rickshaws waiting for their number to get Gas refilled in their gadi's. Ohh, i casually asked, do you need to refill your auto's daily? He simply said yes if its a single owner rickshaw or if two guys are sharing it they need the refill twice a day. I was surprised to note that a normal auto runs more than 1000 kms a day.

"These two stroke gaadi's are such a waste of fuel, i donno why these fools (he used the term which the fake ipl player uses for s. srisanth)prefer 2 stroke when in a 4 stroke auto they can make 500 Rs. on 100 rs. gas and currently they make only 350 on 100 Rs. gas." He started another conversation with this long sentence. How much do you refill daily? i asked, "around 300 rs. if the vehicle has to run 24 hrs" if two guys are using it in two shifts, each one fills around 100-150 for a shift and there is enough honesty to give the auto to the other guy in the evening shift even if the gas tank is full.

"So how much do you make every day?" I asked him.

"when I reach home after the full day work I have around 600 Rs. in Hand out of which I keep aside Rs. 250 for the hafta savings and remaining is my saving" he said.

"Hafta, but you said its your own auto rick, then whom and why do you pay hafta" I asked immediately.

"Arre saa'b, this auto is mine only and since I have purchased it on loan, i Have to pay the installment every month which is Rs. 5000 for a month" explained the meaning of hafta.

During the conversation he told me that he lives in 'malvani' and that his wife is from mumbai itself and his in-laws have a couple of shops in "Dattani Park in Thakur Village" which is quite close to my home. He is from UP and stays here with his brother and uncles while his father and mother are comfortably living in Jonpur.

Quite impressed I asked him whether he stays in a rented house.

I think this time he got a hint that I am treating him with some sympathy and therefore he replied quite strongly; "Sir, I have my own house, we have 6 autorickshaws here in mumbai and we give auto's on rent also. Apart from that we have one Scorpio, one Esteem and One Indigo which we drive during marriage season coz we can make a lot of money then. Per day the driver only makes 400-500 Rs. apart from the car rental charges. We ask for tips when the bride is getting down from the car, when the groom is getting down from cars etc and these tips only make 300-400 rs a day and at times it goes upto as much as rs. 2000 a day when the marriage party is rich and emotional. We make good money then. After that we go to our village, give Rs. 1 Lac to father every year. We enjoy full one month in village and go out to some hill stations or some tourist place and do no work in that one month. Apart from our big house and farm, we have one extra vehicle there kept only for us so that whenever we come on leave we can enjoy our time fully.....

And do you think i dared to ask more about him...
- 1 lac per yr contribution to father in the village while I have never seen 1 Lac in my account till date.
- A Scorpio, Indigo and Indica while My dream is to buy a Scorpio by 2010 which doesn't look to be happening as of now.
- One month holidaying while I have to think ten times before planning a 3 wk vacation.
- One extra vehicle at home so they can enjoy their holidays while I keep debating with dad whether to buy a car in mumbai as i need it more or to buy it in Raipur so that the family can enjoy the luxuries of a 4 wheeler...

and then... he calls me saa'b... why? because i wear good clothes, i pay for his scorpios while him calling me saa'b gives me an ego boost, i carry a laptop and multimedia phone while he carries a tata indicom lowest model, i party at the pubs and the launges while he sleeps at home peacefully (twice a day), because i am more educated than him but he knows the funda's of the loans, depriciation, resale, returns, seasonality of businesses, profitability of ventures etc better than me... and the list goes on...

an interesting evening comes to an end when i reach home and tell my wife that we are going to goa shortly and have booked the hotel and an "Innova" has to be booked.