The Autorickshaw Waala

'Twas a midweek morning
And I was getting late for work.
I rushed out of home looking anxiously at my wristwatch
And wishing fervently that I had better managed my time.
'Tis often that I am caught up in this situation
And if I'm deserving (as I like to think instead of being just plain lucky)
I get to reach office just in time!
Today was going to be no different
Or so I thought to myself as I stood in front of my home
Hand outstretched, scanning the road ahead for the elusive autorickshaw.
Little did I realize that I was about to receive an important lesson
In some of the finer aspects of human nature!

I breathed a sigh of relief as an autorickshaw pulled to a stop;
Inside, the driver sat looking askance
I gave my destination and he motioned me to get in.
As is usual when time is at a premium
I mumbled to him about going faster
He appeared to have not understood
And said "Kya?"
Louder I said "Please go a bit faster"
He spun around so quick,

Before I could say 'Jack Robinson'!
"You want to go fast, eh?"
"You'd better get down then;
This rickshaw will not go fast."
Before I realized what I had just heard
And the expression of utter surprise could subside from my face
He continued: "It is people like you who cause accidents"
"Like the one yesterday where the auto turned over."
"It is you who is responsible!"
I sat back unable to respond
The outrage at his beration seemed strangely silenced

By the import of his words
I told him him to go at his normal pace
Feeling ashamed and at a loss for words
I sat silently thinking about the context of what he had said
His words seemed to pierce right through
And register feebly somewhere in the recesses of my mind.

Later in the day,
I sat thinking again;
The reason for his outburst seemed crystal clear
He is one among a small minority
Who value human life more than money!

An unusual preference in today's materialistic culture

Where the self seems to score over every relation - even that of basic humanity!
That he was ready to refuse a chance to earn

For himself and possibly to feed a family
In return for ensuring that his passengers were safe,

The crowds milling on the roads and the commuters around were safe,
Seemed remarkable for a man of his means

Who just about managed to scrape through life with his meagre earnings.
That he should forgo a chance to make money
Merely for the sake of his beliefs
Seemed unbelievable, unreal somehow
Something out of an anecdote that one gets to hear of
But rarely experience.

Walking home in the evening

The morning's incident still replaying in my mind;
I was glad and surprised at my own reaction.
Where earlier I would have possibly snapped back

At the autorickshaw walla for his audacity and rudeness

And have been agitated throughout the day;
I found myself strangely calm
Meditating on the ways that I could leave earlier from home
And not be in a perennial hurry;
But rather learn to value time and what it stands for
At the same time not losing sight of the fact
That life is more precious than money
And that when someone points out a crease
On a surface that I had believed smooth and silken,
I need to stop and attend to the crease
And attempt to not just iron it out
But prevent it from forming in the first place as far as possible.