Rajan was coming back to his hometown after 5 years. Now that he had shifted his base to Mumbai, and none of his relatives were staying in Bhubaneswar, he had no business coming down to the place. After his parents had died, he had sold his property before shifting completely to Mumbai. He had been to several holiday destinations since then, but this time, there was something inside him which was urging him to go back to Bhubaneswar and feel the warmth of the soil there. He instantly remembered the days when he used to go to Puri, to visit the Lord Jagannath’s Temple and of course, the beach was always on the cards. The ecstatic feeling he used to have when they played cricket matches on Sundays in the scorching heat, defying every warning from their parents. These memories flooded his mind and he planned his trip... alone.
He reached Bhubaneswar and got freshened up in a Hotel.
Soon, he set out to see the place where he once used to live, the place where
he spent his childhood, the place where he was born. The city seemed to have
changed a lot in the last 5 years. The small colonies were now replaced by big apartments;
there were town buses in service now. He could hardly see any person travelling
on a cycle. The city had developed a lot, he thought.
His home was situated around 4-5 kms from his hotel. He stood
by the side of the road and looked for an auto. Most of them, which run on a
sharing basis were filled up, so he did not want to travel in them. After a 10
minutes wait, he could finally find an auto which had no passenger in it. He
waved at it and the auto stopped in front of him.
“Will you go to Saheednagar?” Rajan asked.
“Reserve or on a sharing basis?” asked the auto-driver.
“Reserve”. Rajan replied.
“100 rupees sir.” demanded the auto-driver. Rajan was
expecting around 50-60 bucks. He thought of bargaining with him.
“That’s too much! I’ll give you 50 bucks and that’s my last
offer.” He said.
The auto-driver went off without bothering to reply to the
offer. Rajan was astounded by the rude behaviour of the auto-guy. He looked
around and thought of taking a bus, but then he would have had to ask for bus
routes and moreover, look for a bus stop. He looked back and found an empty
cycle rickshaw, with the rickshaw driver sitting under the tree. He was
reminded of the old days, when he used to go to the school with a few other
kids in a cycle rickshaw. The idea of travelling again brought out the kid in
him and he found himself fascinated by it. He went to the rickshaw, and noticed
that the rickshaw-puller was an old guy, seemed like 50-55 years old.
“Will you take me to Saheednagar?” He asked the
rickshaw-puller.
“Yes sir.” The old guy replied.
“How much?”
“Sir, whatever you offer.”
“I’ll give you 40 rupees.” Rajan made his offer. Something
inside him pinched him for making that offer, which was 10-20 bucks less than
the one he made to the auto-rickshaw driver. It was probably his moral
conscience. He was glad that he had one.
“OK” replied the guy politely.
Rajan sat on the cycle rickshaw and his journey started. He
struck up a conversation with the rickshaw-puller.
“You must be facing tough competition from the
auto-rickshaws?” he asked.
“Sir, There is no competition at all. The auto-rickshaws are
faster, and if you are going on a sharing basis, it’s cheaper as well. We stand
no chance against them.” He replied humbly.
“Then why don’t you guys run an auto-rickshaw?” He asked,
but then he knew it was a stupid question! Obviously the guy did not have
enough money to buy one!
“Sir, from where will we get the money to buy one? Moreover,
even if we want to drive somebody else’s auto-rickshaw, who would want an old
man to drive his vehicle! There is a big risk involved in it for the owner.”
“How do you manage then? Do you get enough customers to make
a living out of it?” Rajan asked curiously.
“No sir. It is only kind men like you or sometimes, though
rarely, the curious ones, who just need a ride for fun are our customers. We
barely manage our living, but are happy with whatever we have or rather,
whatever we don’t have.” he said and laughed. I too tried to join in with his
laughter.
He continued. “But sir, our city is developing so much. New
buildings are coming up, new shopping malls, hotels have found a place in the
city, people party and have lots of money to spend. But the Government doesn’t
realise even though the city is developing, the rich is getting richer and the
poor is getting poorer. Where will we go and what will we do to earn a living?”
Soon, Rajan found that he was about to reach his destination
and there is an uphill road which was about 10-15 mins walk to his home. He did
not want to give the poor old guy a hard time, pulling up his weight. He asked
him to stop and got down from it. He felt sorry for the poor old guy. He took
out his wallet, fished out a 500-rupee note and handed it over to the person.
The old guy looked at Rajan and said, “Sir, Please give me
40 rupees change.”
“That’s fine. No need of returning me the change. I insist,
please keep it.” Rajan replied.
“Sir, I cannot take it. I have worked hard all my life and
have never accepted anything which is not fair. That’s how I’ve lived my life
sir. I promised you to bring you here in exchange of 40 rupees and will do so.
I know you would have felt sorry for me listening to my story, but I had no
intentions of charging you money for telling it to you!” He said, with a
smiling face.
Rajan was startled by the honesty of the old rickshaw-puller,
at the same time he was crossed with himself for making such a small offer
for the rickshaw ride. But then he had no choice. The guy simply refused to
take any extra money! Finally, he gave him 40 bucks and he accepted it with
grace. Rajan was impressed with the way the person had conducted himself
irrespective of the fact that he was so poor.
The rickshaw-puller said, “Thank you sir.” and started turning
away with the rickshaw.
Rajan called him, “Hey wait! What’s your name?”
“Sir, my name is Mani. Hope you’ll remember me!” And with a
smile on his face, he started moving in the opposite direction.
“Of course Mani!” replied Rajan.
