I always try to talk to rickshaw drivers, taxi
drivers, bus conductors etc and often have engaging conversations with them.
Firstly, they are impressed that a woman wants to talk to them and secondly,
they feel good to talk to someone in their otherwise humdrum job. As for me, I
get a perspective of things through their eyes and experiences.
This is Rajendra. I hired his rickshaw a while back to
go to a friend’s house in Versova.
I noticed these handles (aren’t they called that?)
first. They have Swagatam (Welcome) written on them. So often one hires such
vehicles and fails to notice how lovingly the driver or owner has decorated
them. The handles appealed to me and I realised the rickshaw was new.
Everything was pretty shiny in it.
It turns out that Rajendra was a truck driver for
about 12 years. Then he got diagnosed with diabetes and couldn’t do that job.
So he decided to buy a rickshaw and drive around in the suburbs ferrying people
to earn his livelihood. He’s been driving the rickshaw for some months. “I make
enough for my family. I have to take care of my health and being a truck driver
wasn’t going to help with that. This is less stressful. Sure the cab
aggregators have made business tough, but I do manage. It’s going okay,” he
says.
I took some pictures of the rickshaw and told him I
liked it. Then I took his picture. “It’ll be better if you take a picture with
me outside,” he suggested. So here he is. One of the thousands of rickshaw
drivers in Mumbai and its suburbs. He loves his vehicle and his job and wants
you to know that. So swagatam to his rickshaw.
