A casual chat -- There is always learnings
The last week end I was at Mumbai and as I landed , I was
informed both Uber and Ola drivers were on strike – The strike did not bother
me as the good old Kaala Peela service
was available ( Black and Yellow regular taxi )
Later in the day , as I was leaving back , my cousin booked
Uber . I was surprised since I thought the Hail taxis were off the road . But
this one showed up and I got to chat with the driver – he looked very smart and
as I engaged him on discussions about the strike , it was a meaningful
conversation . He said he has been driving all the days of the strike ( the
current day of the strike was day five ) . He said strikes are for few people
and any issue had to be resolved through discussions and winning negotiations !
He said by striking , Ola nor Uber will go out of business and it is only the
drivers who will lose their daily earnings .. He was so happy to serve and not
join the strike – He spoke very well and articulated his views clearly – I was
surprised by his thoughts and quickly asked a question for which I expected an
affirmative answer – he did say he was from Gujarat.
Post that affirmation ,he talked about how the earthquake of 2001 in the Kutch area had wiped off his business
, home – he said the damage was so intense that he re located to Mumbai and
took up a job – he did extremely well to head Purchasing for his company till
2017 when the company was shut down. The Hail taxi service has kept him
employed post that – he has been driving for the last two years – Works 12
hours a day ( he says including travel time , every Mumbaikar works for that
period of time and so no fuss around work hours ) , makes his money and said
his life was good and challenges were bound to come but we to face them and
find new ways to deal with it . As he dropped me , I shook hands and thanked him
for the ride and good chat and wished him good luck.. Some things that I picked
up as a summary
Courage –
Being clear about what you want to do
Not to get bogged down – having lost everything , but relocating and finding ways to live well.
Adaptability—Loosing the job and finding another to keep
going
Working hard and not cribbing about it
Positiveall through
Staying happy
There is so much to get inspired and we can find them all
the time around us.. Just that we have to keep looking close by and not look
too far away to get inspired!
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Vidhya