It started off as a routine day as usual.
I am referring to the day one before today.
Came back from college all huffing puffing and had to leave for Mumbai by 2 noon.
But no such luck , by the time,sat in the cab it was 4 pm . Hubby now out of steam and only sauna all over.
Yours truly sitting in the cab and the cab driver, greets her politely and very courteously picks up the luggage and loads it in the car ,
By 7 pm we should reach Mumbai ma'am.
The cab driver name is Shahrukh.( I am the biggest fan of Shahrukh Khan, needlessly be told 😂😂)
Ma'am, delirious with joy , settles to listen to some soothing music and tries to read a book.
I didn't realise when the cab touched the outskirts of Mumbai as I was either listening or clicking pics .
The scintillating sunset and blinding moon make me awestruck about the beauty of nature .
Suddenly I realise the cab has not moved for sometime and I preen out of the cab
And what
Be and hold
Nothing great
Traffic jam 😕.
I curse softly under my breath and my husband's booming voice starts riveting in my ears, I had told you , leave early if you don't want to get stuck in the peak evening traffic.
My phone battery is low and I turn off the Bluetooth, data and keep looking out of the window and except for the sea of all types of vehicles, nothing else seems to be moving on the roads .
Seeing my hyper state , the cab driver, in a very soothing voice, says , only this patch traffic, we will reach only half an hour than the estimated time .
I smile weakly and having nothing else to do, strike a conversation with him.
After some polite nothings were exchanged.
I realised that Shahrukh was a well educated individual having spent some time abroad .
As it normally happens, we dithered to the situation in the country.
I thinking, I am the one who is well read, aware of happenings in and around, wanted to control the discussion as I felt I have more to control ( And of course I love the sound of my voice 🤣).
Shahrukh said , ma'am, can I tell you my recent experience?
And I am suddenly all ears .
This is what Shahrukh recited -
Few days ago, he got a cab booking , he accepted it and when he started the trip realised , GPS had malfunctioned and the ride was not viable .
And he cancelled the trip .( He said , I do this very rarely and I believe him ).
He continued, as I didn't get any booking , I had a cup of tea and was wondering when the next booking would come .
His phone rang, and as it normally happens with most of us, he picked up without even seeing the display.
A mouthful of expletives greeted him from the other side and in a moment, he was like , who is calling.
Realising it was a female voice, Shahrukh said, he was very careful in answering.
The lady on the phone was very furious that her trip had been cancelled.
After a minute or two, Shahrukh realised the female fury is not all smoke but it is brimstones and fire .
Shahrukh tried to pacify her and apologize, but the person on the other side was in no mood of listening.Realising that disconnecting is the best way to end the rancour, He disconnected . Within 30 secs the phone rang again and this time also he was greeted with the choicest expletives coupled with religious slurs and insults .
Despite all the provocations, Shahrukh maintained his cool and again tried to calm the lady down.
The lady was in no mood to relent .
Finally after venting out all her frustrations , she disconnected.
The saga continues.
But let's take a pause in the story .
My eyes were popping out and I was feeling more and more outraged .
I in a total Durga Mata mode - Why did you not call the police ?
No-one can get away by abusing someone based on religion.
It's spreading hatred
I am a lawyer ( 3 months more for making it official)
And on and on.
Shahrukh meanwhile was very quiet
And I took a pause from my pompous tirade .
Ma'am can I continue
I , totally deflated, you mean the story continues.
He said yes ma'am.
I in mute mode 🤐.
Shahrukh shared the disturbing happening with his wife after reaching home .
The wife , being wife 😉, very calmly requested him to give him the phone number.
A woman to woman call required is what she said .
Shahrukh was naturally worried that the wife might get into a confrontation and fight .
But the wife , with a very peaceful demeanour promised Shahrukh, she would not .
She dialed the phone number from her phone and in a very neutral and calm manner asked if the person on the other side was free .
The person on the other side naturally was very suspicious as to who is calling and what is it about?
After identifying herself as the wife of the cab driver who cancelled her trip today , the person on the other side again flew off her handle and started talking in a harsh tone .
The wife apologised for trip being cancelled and continued, ma'am, is it okay that just because a person is a driver , you can behave in such a rough manner.
Maybe time had passed since the frenzy the lady had experienced.
She paused and very graciously accepted her mistake and wanted to apologise to Shahrukh.
The wife in a very dignified tone requested her to call her husband on his phone as she had earlier called him to threaten and abuse him .
The lady called Shahrukh and apologised and accepted her mistake.
All well that ends well.
Listening to this intriguing tale triggered lot of thoughts in me .
First of all , reflecting on my behaviour
Was I too outraged and did I fly off the handle before even trying to understand the situation, the frustrations of the lady who ordered the cab?
It's so easy to have this holier than thou attitude and assume the worst from this world .
Assume that human race is being more divisive, India is turning into a majoritarian country.
Maybe yes , but as long as individuals like Shahrukh, his wife and the gracious lady ( For me the wife and this lady are the hero's of the story ) exist, even pessimists like me will carry on having faith in this country.
And last but not the least
All the husband's now finally agree that wives always know the best and listening to wives is the only route to success and prosperity in life 😉😂😂.