Had an apprehension, based on occasional table talks that non-tamil speaking individuals are mostly not liked & are not welcomed in the South-Indian metro. I, in fact do not wish to get into any submissions that vindicate racial distinctions between citizens within the country. We all know that it exists in various forms across length and breadth & it needs to be addressed at various levels too. But we are living in a country with problem aplenty to address and this issue can take a back seat for some time.
It is not my first visit to a Dravidian land; i had earlier been to several small towns of Tamil Nadu that include Coimbatore, Madurai, Dindigul and Trichy but was looked after well then with an escort at all times with me. That wasn’t the case this time around. I landed at the Kaamraj International airport & took a pre-paid cab to a place called Nungambakkam on B khader Nawaz Khan Road. The cab driver drove through topsy-turvy lanes and streets instead of main highway road, I observed. I kept humming some old hindi numbers & his pupil kept oscillating between the path & my face. He reached to the desired road and was finding it difficult to locate the exact destination where he was supposed to drop me. He later asked me to call the guest house (gh) guy & expected that the person would help him locate the destination. I am sure the gh guy would have directed him right, but he was still unable to traverse the correct path. He then, after sometime, asked me get down and help myself as he had already fulfilled his commitment to drop me the desired destination which was B khader Nawaz Khan Road part of an address.
I was shocked to get such a response from a guy whose primary responsibility as cab driver was to drop me to the last mile, for which he was paid entirely. He was as adamant to not drive as I was reluctant to get out of the cab. The deadlock situation continued for some time until an auto driver came & I do not know what the conversation went on between them, but I am sure he wanted to ensure that he dropped me to the final destination. The driver finally had to agree with consensus & it barely took him minutes to reach the place. It saved me the hassle of finding the place myself; which at one point was afraid that I might have to in case the driver did not blink.
The cab driver kept bickering even after I had left the car. I was feeling sad for him & helpless that I could not make him understand that it is his primary responsibility to ensure his customer reach to destination safely. Isn’t this taught in Ved too? A chariot driver taking care of his master ensuring that he is safe at all times until he makes it destination. I know we are living in modern era but isn’t basic service & value principle that we always refer to ancient? Moreover pick & drop is picking up as another sector of service industry & I see this as a part of larger organized service sector which is already taking some shape with the advent of Meru & the likes. Life of these individuals would become difficult if they do not learn small nuances of service industry. I am sure sooner or later the pick & drop service would be an organized sector earning billions of tax-revenue for government.
Any ways, that wasn’t the end of my welcoming....
I went for a quick shower as I entered into my guest house. The moment I wiped off water with towel given by guest house caretaker, I noticed I was being kissed all over by tiny little ants :))). It had taken the cozy route to me. I was left endearing & wondered what is next in store after these assaults of a kind.
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