Alright, this is one way of keeping my blogging habit on. I am using the Web/ TV series format of seasons and episodes. I call this “Blog Series”! I am the cab driver. I am going to tell you stories about my passengers. Hope this will interest you and make you a little bit more aware of what all happen during a cab ride.

So it was a Saturday night. I was driving a share/pool cab that night. I picked up a person in his thirties.

“Sir, can you give me your OTP?”

“5346” the man replied.

“Where are you going sir?”

“I am going to FilmNagar.” he said

Beep, beep, beep. I see there is another booking in close range. So I accept the booking. The navigator in my phone tells me I have to go back to the same spot where I picked this gentleman again.

So I wait for 5 minutes, I try calling the new customers on their phone. They ask me to wait for 2 minutes.

After 5 minutes 2 women probably in their late 20s, dressed in t-shirts and jeans walk towards my cab. Till now I forgot to turn on the a/c but suddenly i remembered and turned the a/c on.

Both women were talking in English. I was the English topper in my primary school. So I could understand what they were talking. I will name them Anaida and Akanksha just for your understanding. I started the cab and took off with the 3 passengers. The gentleman was not speaking at all. He was wearing his earphones and probably listening to songs.

Anaida said “Here’s where I will start ordering my food from” she pointed to a biryani hotel on the way.

Akanksha said “oh does he deliver food home?”

“Yes, he will. And it will be cheaper than the previous hotel.” said Anaida.

They went on speaking about random topics for about 20 minutes. They were not even taking a break. They were jumping from one topic to another. It looked like they were working as air-hostesses in a popular airline company but the salary they were earning was not that great. It also looked like they were living in an apartment and sharing it with another woman. Anaida and Akanksha looked tight from their conversation. One conversation caught my attention.

“Oh, by the way, our roommate needs to buy scotch brite (the vessels cleaning pad) this time. I bought it last time, now its her turn. I do have one with me but won’t let her use mine.” said Akanksha.

I was thinking, if I was getting bored with all this conversation, what was the situation of the third passenger who was sitting right next to them? Probably the songs were diverting him from the pain of this conversation.

After a few minutes, the women started talking about a mall they were going to.

“Oh that mall has a terror threat, see this whatsapp message I got” said the third person in the car. I will name him Anand for ease.

“Oh these days, they circulate all sorts of nonsense and fake news in whatsapp” says Akanksha.

“But see this is from a leading newspaper. So the threat may be real.” Anand said

“Its ok, we both will die for the country.” Anaida says

Anand says “But there are other ways to die for the country. Why die like this?”

“No no, we will die saving others”. Akanksha reassures.

What noble thought ! Then the three of them got lost in regular conversation, getting to know each other, what they do, where are they going etc. But this light-hearted courage stayed with me as I dropped the three passengers off at their required destinations and drove back to pick up the next customer.

“I live in a great country” I said to myself. I am the Modern Cab Driver!

But wait, this new customer who boarded the cab now taps me on my shoulder and asks me “Did the previous rider forget their bag?”

Whats in the bag? Who left it? Did they leave it on purpose?

To be continued…..