Chapter 2- The Taxi
You can also read the first part Chapter-1 here.
The wall clock, hanging on the wall, is showing 7AM on 17th of April 2017 and Dave is on cloud nine today, as he has finally accomplished his long due dream of owning a taxi of his own. His feeling can be easily compared to the happiness of the toddlers, when they make way into their mother's lap. Now with his own taxi, Dave doesn’t need to pay the hefty rental amount which he used to, to the taxi owner, who rents his taxi to him on a 2:3 ratio sharing basis. High taxi rental hasn't been the only obstacle for him; due to the advancement of mobile technology, the Radio Taxi giants such as Uber & Ola had already eaten the biggest share of the overall taxi market pie on the roads of Bangalore. As a result of it, the competition amongst all individual taxi drivers has risen to its peak.
Dave is a cab driver who usually operates between the IT area of Bangalore i.e. Electronic City and Bangalore International Airport. He has finally managed to secure a bank loan, with the help of an NGO as his financial condition isn't too great. He has a daughter, Sophie, who is in her 10th standard (a big milestone year in the Indian education system), a year that can make or break ones future. Apart from her, Dave has his old parents to look after. His wife, Anne had left Dave & Sophie alone as she couldn't win the battle with Dengue last year.
In the past, not everything had been dull and gloomy, sometimes Dave used to get rewarded with some extra in tips, from the passengers who could make it to the Airport on time, only thanks to Dave's unique and exceptional driving skills. On those evenings, Sophie used to eagerly wait for his daddy to come home, as the whole family would then go out to celebrate, in whichever cost-effective way possible.
But the times have changed now; Anne has left them and Sophie hardly ever smiles. The only quantum of solace Dave has today, is his taxi and also he upgraded by getting himself enrolled an Uber driver. Now the only dream left in Dave's eyes is to see his Sophie in a white apron and a stethoscope around her neck. He is committed to bring this dream of his into a reality, no matter what the circumstances hi might have to face, no matter what hurdles that come his way.!
He knows that the loan which he has taken from the bank can only be re-paid if he works his heart out and did overtime as well. After all, apart from re-paying his debt, he had a family to feed as well.
“I will do everything to provide you with all that you need my princess”, says Dave to himself. “See daddy has bought a new car for his baby daughter. Form now on, my daughter will go to school in her own car! Isn't that great?”, asks Dave to Sophie, expecting to get a glimpse of her long lost smile. But Sophie's facial expressions were as cold as frosty winds of December.
"Come on baby, let me drop you to your school, from where, I shall head to my work", says Dave in a soft voice. With that both Dave & Sophie board the car and head towards the school. On the way, Sophie tries to says something to her daddy, reluctantly, “Daddy! my school has planned a educational trip to Mysore (an ancient city about 130 Kms from Bangalore) on the coming Friday. I know our family’s economic state very well and that is why I have refused to go no the trip. But in leu to that, my class teacher has ordered me to get an application letter, signed by you, stating the reason for my refusal to go on the trip. The cost of the trip is five thousand rupees (circa $80) and I know we can not afford it, at this juncture. Could you please take sigh on this application? And she tries to handover the application to her father. This way we will be able to save on this unnecessary and totally avoidable cost on our family’s expenses.”
Hearing this from his precious daughter, Dave's heart just skipped a beat and he felt as if a part of his soul just died. With a very heavy heart & shivering voice Dave replied, “my lovely Sophie, don't you worry about the finances, your father is still alive to manage the finances, his is not your age to worry about these things. You only concentrate on your studies and you are going on that trip!”.
By the time this conversation ended, they had reached the main gate of Sophie’s school. Dave kisses his daughter on the forehead and bids adieu to her.
As soon as Dave comes back to his driving seat, Dave's phone starts to ring. “Hi, this is Paul here; I have booked your Uber cab. How much time will it take for you to get to my location?” To which Dave replies ecstatically “yes sir, I have got your location on the Uber app. I am already on my way and will be there in the next 2 minutes.”, after all Paul is going to be his first passenger, in his new taxi.
Moral- When we see our loved ones in pain, we forget our own pain. It's our loved one's happiness that out weighs all other materialistic things of the world.
---------------End of Chapter 2-----------------
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