The Graduate AutoRickshaw Driver

Traffic snarls were incredibly horrible throughout the city in the evening, and this had to happen only on the day when I had taken time out from office on a mission to do some window shopping for furnitures. Sweat was bursting out of my forehead and the helmet cushion was soaking it all. Not to forget the huge amount of dust and smog I had inhaled within the 30 minutes I had been out there on the road.

But traffic that day reminded of an aspect of struggling India, of which I have been a habituated mute spectator, and nothing else. An India which has a lot of talent and aspirations, but buries them under the thick blanket called 'need', and yet, they can't even cover their feet with the same blanket at the end of the day.Everyone dreams of being a SuperStar, but still sleeps under the stars and the open sky. Everybody starts their morning with a shine in their eyes. A shine which fades away when the dusk settles in, only to come back the next day. Life and luck try to annihilate these dreams, but they are nothing less than the Phoenix. They are re-born from the ashes, stronger and vivid than before. And so, I see, the class of struggling India, walking like zombies. The only thing shining bright is their eyes....and the dreams those eyes hold........

Its silly of me to loose myself in thoughts, but the long wait in traffic was enough to divert my attention to life on the pavements. This train of thought was cut off by a well toned and smooth flow of conversation in English. I turned my head to have a peep inside the autorickshaw that had crawled up on my right, and sure enough there was a pretty young lady seated in it. But finding nobody else beside her, I was suddenly at a loss to figure out the manly voice to which she was speaking so earnestly, and that too in English!

The conversation started again, and I lurched into a realm of astonishment. It was none other than the autorickshaw driver who was conversing so beautifully in English with the lady. Somehow, my attention was less on the lady and more on the driver( at other times a flashy sport car is enough to grab and turn my attention away from a good-looking gal!). "I am a first class in BCom with Honours", he remarked. "But how on earth did you end up with this rickshaw ?", the lady was more than curious. "Madam, my family was in dire straits with no financial help from any quarters. It was my rotten luck that I didn't get a job as soon as I passed out of college. The condition of my family forced me to lease an autorickshaw outright and start earning to make ends meet. Its been 23 yrs now. Many a times I wish I had a stable Govt job, but as soon as this thought surfaces, my eyes well up with tears. But bygone is bygone and I don’t have any regrets. I did what seemed best and what I thought was my responsibility towards my family. ", the driver looked lost in the memory lanes almost a quarter century back. "But I am happy now. My son is continuing his BCom and I hope to see him in the shoes I had dreamt of 23 yrs back." The inevitable'shine' comes back in his eyes.

It looked like ages, but all in all only 4 minutes had passed till then. And I was waiting there on my bike, listening to the autorickshaw driver's tale. The lady looked like she came back from a trance, "but uncle, you sure have a flair for English. How do you manage it ?" The driver smiled," I am an avid reader of newspapers and I always have the latest copy of 'India Today' and 'Business India' tucked up under my seat. I like shows and discussions on Indian Economy and do try to catch up with the latest developments in Business sector."

I couldn't control myself. I lifted up my visor and said out loud,"an English-speaking autorickshaw driver is rare in Hyderabad, but an autorickshaw driver speaking English with such refinement is utmost rarity." "Yes, you are correct!" the lady quipped, our eyes making a contact for a second. A loud horn blarred and broke the flow of the moment. It was understood that it was time to move, with the traffic clearing up ahead.

I revved up my engine, still wondering - 'what impression would people like this auto-rickhsaw driver be creating on the minds of the occassional foreign tourists who happen to travel in their autorickshaws ?'

Definitely not of a poor India without food and shelter, unable to cover their feet in the blanket, but of an India which thrives on the dreams of people who struggle endlessly to realize their dreams.

I feel they are the Duracell batteries which keeps India powered on.... and blinking on the socio-economic map of the world.