Cabbie - Day...

It’s still dark as I pull out of the parking lot… the rumbling engine of the old machine shattering the silence of the neighborhood.

I spot a few other drivers in their grey uniforms… like mine… also trudging towards the lot to begin their daily work.

But enough reveries… have to focus.

The only sure shot way of getting fares this early in the morning was to stalk the airport (an eleven mile drive), the bus depot (six miles) or the station (only three).

While the diesel loss was obvious, the airport usually turned up long distance travelers unlike the station. And besides, I had to take the risk today… I needed to make at least another eleven hundred by nightfall.

Flagged down before I had even decided which way to head… saves having to think something up and run the risk of blaming myself later…. Although I wish my first fare of the day was more polite….

It’s not like I am not used to being condescended… but you don’t expect people to be this offensive till after office hours.

What can be done? Bear it all and drive him wherever he wants to go… the train station apparently… I’ll gladly ‘step on it’ if I can get rid of him a few minutes early.

Always hated these money hungry thugs that try to get commission for monitoring the line of cabs at the station… all they do is just point the fare towards the next cab in line after listening to their destination… then they hold out their hand for a cut. You can deny them and get a window smashed… not worth it at all.

There goes twenty bucks for a fare I haven’t even been paid by yet….

At least this ones a long distance trip… all the way over to the other side of the city.

I don’t mind making the long trip before dawn… but from around seven onwards… the traffic gets too severe for it. You have to sit and urge the meter to tick while waiting for each everlasting red signal to turn green. It’s quite hard to make a profit that way.

This guy is polite… he speaks to me in the mild tones of an educated man.

I like his sort more than the one before… but of course his behavior is an act that he uses so as not to seem harsh or conceited. He only does it however, so as not to look bad to himself. Making comments about the whether and traffic… seemingly friendly… but doesn’t really care about the man driving him enough to even ask him his name. The better class of city dweller certainly.

Drop him off and having to run a few short fares that progressively lead me back towards where I started… by now the sun is well and truly up. The office crowd has started.

I have been behind the wheel for five hours.

Hopefully a fare will lead me towards the central market… I can park in an empty patch of shade there and grab my lunch.

Already cold… and bound to get even less appetizing with every passing second….

No one seems inclined to head that way… driving an empty cab seems a waste of time and fuel… but there isn’t any space to park between where I am and where I intend to go… don’t want to get fined… or worse have my license punched.

The drive seems so much longer and expensive with the backseat empty… the fact we are wasting money instead of making it, weighs even the best of us down. Oh well… hope I can land another fare soon.

Being interrupted during my frugal lunch is not the best of things that can happen… but bolting down the last morsel, and drinking the water even as you back out of the parking lot I am thankful I have got another fare.

The young couple is off to the big mall to see a movie and spend a romantic day.

But dropping them right in front of the building might not be a good idea with the sergeant lurking ahead. I drop them just short of the main entrance… don’t want to block the traffic flow and get fined… they get off but it’s already too late for me to make a run for it. The sergeant is at my window.

The festive season is almost on us… he can punch my license on a false charge unless I pay him not to.

That sets back my plans for the day. I need at least a couple of big fares now if I want to meet my target.

Three short ones all circling the immediate area doesn’t seem to help much… but every little bit counts. The pauses between the fares when I either wait at a crossing or circle the crowded civic centers seem to stretch on forever.

Does no one want to go to the airport today…?

C’mon people… we want you get about the city….

I get one medium distance fare. Only till as far as the bus depot.

Barely have an hour left before I need to return the cab. Just one more passenger… I wait outside the complex and…

Yes! One more… all the way to the station… high chances I’ll get a return fare from there.

The guy in the back is cursing me out for not taking his prescribed route. Sorry if I want to avoid the jam… your honor. Cary on cursing... I refuse to be too bothered.

He gets off... and I place a request with the ‘line managers’ about what kind of fare I need. The passenger has to head in the approximate direction of the parking lot.

It’s ok if that means an extra ten bucks… worth it at the end of the day.

Get the fare… pay the cash and it’s back on to the street for the last time today.

Heading back to the stand… is a kind of homecoming in itself.

Drop the last guy off at his doorstep… non-descript and unremarkable… and pull up into the car lot.

Turn off the ignition, roll up the windows, lock the doors… step out into the dusk air and walk over the booth where the day had begun.

You hand over your keys… watch a mark being made on the list… pay up your dues… and walk out.

The day is done and I have twelve hundred rupees still in my pocket.

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