Of the taxi drivers in Abu Dhabi

Yes,now you know where I live..a cool place with roaring summer around the year!A beautiful island ad mist Arabic ocean,with flora and fauna of date tress and camels,a blend of western and regional culture,with sky scrappers & wonders like the Burj and Ferrari World,spic & span beach of white sand and irresistible temperature and humidity. The capital city provides every resident a job to make money,pollution less air,traffic free roads,variety of food outlets and malls that spoil our shopping habits. For me,its the heaven on earth.

People who entertained me much in this city are the taxi drives,who at one gesture stop at my feet and take me to places. During many such ventures,I have come across drivers who are fast and furious,kind and quite,humorous and talkative and scary and demanding too! Few of them are worth recalling and so are
they here,in my space.

1.During initial days of my stay at Abu Dhabi,I came across this old taxi driver,a pathan,who drove us to the end point (place where city stretches as sea),patiently waited until we had our good time watching sunset & dropped us back home without charging a penny!Not that he was doing charity that day,but we were running out of cash with no ATM nearby & he had no time to wait further. He touched our hearts saying "koi bath nahi beta,samjunga mere bacche baitey hai" (No problem dear,I will consider that I drove my kids) and left us speechless. Believe guys,it did happen!

2.During another such situation of zero cash,the driver drove us to an ATM,waited until we drew money and collected his charge,denying our offer of a phone card of higher amount. After this incident,we always made sure to carry enough money in wallet to pay for the taxi,fearing of encountering a rude driver.

3.All the good impressions we had about drivers were wiped out when we met this guy,who suffocated us with stinking car and denied our request of lowering the glass for fresh air,stating arrogantly that our weight is the reason for suffocation! Can you beat that?

4.A probable car racer-turned-driver drove me to office in just 3 minutes (contrast to 10 mins) reminding me of all the forgotten prayers & shot my heart rate to double the normal. I had almost made silent goodbye note in mind but was relived to see me alive after that.

5.A smart driver in greed of raising the meter charge,drove me unnecessarily along longer roads pretending to escape the traffic. The smarter me asked him to stop at a place much before my destination acting as if I have less money left. You got to be the smartest to cheat me dear!

6.Sweetest of all being this particular one who not only changed FM station as per my request,but also entertained me all the way with his jokes. He made me realize that the drivers are human beings just like us,with all emotions and they too deserve our respect and kindness.

7.This one probably the new on street complimented me saying "aap kitne sweet bolthe ho" after I directed him to my destination. When I narrated this to my friends,all they asked was "did he charge you for the trip?" Sigh..all these disasters in thy name of friends...

8.Most recent being the guy who greeted me "Vanakkam" as I seated in his taxi. Rare dumbeness hit me that day and all I could say was "Madinat zayed,err,vanakkum" I feel spellbound when strangers really seriously greet me with so much respect..any idea why?

There were many more who took me by surprise with there behavior but I got to end this post here and rush to a taxi and go shopping :)

Ashwini.

He Made Me Cry..

Introducing my life partner through this post,Rag,the only person with power to make me sob and smile within seconds.Yeah,he is the hero of this story too.

Its typical Ragism to make me wait everyday before he picks me form office late evening. As per him,reason for his late arrival includes crash meeting,emergency call,urgent report requirement,traffic & yeah,missing car from the parking lot too,which wraps up the truth that he forgot where it was parked in the morning! Being used to all his nakras,I patiently wait for him each evening while calling him every 5 minutes to trace his where abouts.

One such evening was today and I stood at the office lobby sweating & watching couples walking together with envy. The first call at 7 said he is busy in a meeting & would reach me within 15 minutes. The second call at 7.15 found him waiting for lift and next two calls drove him across two streets draining 10 more minutes of my precious after office hours. Just a second before my patience burst,he stood there with a pale face,doubting wheather to smile or not. Trying to hold my anger,I tunded to FM & went blind & deaf to all his woes.

Not knowing how to soothe my anger he stumbled and trembled with fancy words until a brilliant idea hit him. I was taken to surprise when we stood infront of a chat counter,my recently found love,a place that serves the spiciest Pani puris(PP) in whole city,just the way I want,with crispy puris filled with mint water,finely chopped onion & baked beans.It will take all another post to describe my love for PPs & my struggle to find them in this desert.

Furious mind had almost calmed by now and the moment the yummilicious PP quenched my desire,I was full of smile & peace. More PPs completely cooled me down leaving water in eyes and nose,the reason for which is well known. There stood my man,beaming with victory smile,of conquering my anger, without a sword or word. We both returned home,wiping eyes and nose with satisfaction,though the reason for both were different.

And you thought I cried because he made me wait?? Silly you :)

Ashwini.