It was funny. Today, because of a friend I had to take an auto rickshaw to come back home in the night. Anyway, it was completely worth my hesitation to get into an auto. When I got into the auto, the driver was calm and did not speak much. Once we started moving he turned out to be a driving comedian. And the comedy aspect is not because he cracked jokes, but because of his speaking style. He was not drunk. It was absolutely very good Kannada and at times a surprisingly good English. I was just nodding my head and at times make 'ha-ha' 'he-he' sounds to make sure he is in flow. It was a 20 min journey and here are some of the interesting eye-opening observations he made:
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Saar- in India, people have become so foolish saar. They are not worried about all the 'nidhi' [meaning treasure] they have secretly sent outside the country and deposited in Swiss bank. They are worried about how to find such treasures in temples and exploit it more. Can you believe it saar, they are now spoiling the temples in Kerala [in English]?
Is there any news about the money they have secretly deposited out side India? no! why? because they want to exploit more and fall for themselves and their greed.
Other countries struggle hard to constantly pull back their citizens in good shape saar. But in India people seem to force everyone into a dumping ground. And people listen to them saar.
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Corruption - why is it that only Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev wants to fight against it saar? why cant others do such stuff? I think people do not even know how to make a revolution these days. I am a patriot saar. I do not know how I got it in me. But I read a lot [in English] saar!
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In India there was literally no poison saar. Even if it was there it was there only in Snakes. Now it is in each and every human being saar. I do not know what to say.
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There is money for every beggar and every person in India with Indian government saar. They do not know how to distribute it properly. The major problem is taxation. [in English]
I know who pays the tax and who dont pay the tax saar. All these people who have more money and the businessmen are the culprits saar. [He made some calculations and all which I could not follow properly. But the highlight was that he was very knowledgeable]
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Our ex-chief minister HDK challenges CBI to prove him a thief. So does it mean, only if CBI says he agrees that he is a thief. What kind of a joker he is saar. And CBI has to make that statement for him to believe his own noble deed.
These days Farmers are also becoming bad saar. All because of our ex-prime minister Devegowda. They will listen to whatever he says and they end up digging their own grave.
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Some lady from Italy came and conquered India saar. Everything is in her hands now.
You know how bad SM Krishna saar? most of the corruption cases in the past got generated from him only. It has reached till Sonia Gandhi. You won't believe it. [in English].
In Mandya people call her as our 'Sose' [ meaning Daughter in Law]. I tell them, first they call her 'Sose' and then they call her 'soole'.
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People are being called as 'Educated' not because of their quality saar, but because of their 'face'. If they are good to you, they are 'educated' [in English].
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TV news channels have become 'only entertainment' [in English] channels saar. They make money like crazy. And people sit and watch whatever they say on the screen and it is easy money. There is no value for 'earning money' these days saar. Money has become a joke saar [in English].
When I was a kid I did not have any sense of what money is saar. I thought money is nothing. Now I realise saar, money is everything and there is nothing else in the world.
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My daughter tells me not to crib about these things at home. She says I alone cannot fight against corruption. She tells me - for that I have to do a PhD course on how to reduce corruption in India [in English]. See saar, kids are talking like this these days. Tell me what is the solution saar? [in English]
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When we reached and I was about to get down he said, One final thing saar [in English] - India got independence in 1947, but I will tell you saar, People are not free saar. We do not have real freedom yet!
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In the end, he said, bye-bye saar! Good night, there is a lot to talk about India you see!
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I got a good 'educated' feeling out of this 20 minutes auto rickshaw journey today.
Srik
3 comments:
Imagine one temple has enough wealth to reduce India's debt by 10%, imagine what was India's value 200 yrs ago...If we had our wealth we could have been the IMF - Indian Monetary Fund...alwa Saar? :D
Taxi drivers in every city that I have ever visited are alike. They appear to descend from the same gene pool. They are big on problem statements and offer no meaningful solutions. Also, they all seem to excel in complaining, i.e., whining, whimpering, and wringing of hands.
Everything that this auto driver says may be true. The fact remains that he is not ready to put his shoulder to the wheel and make even small improvements. It would be nice to know if he has done anything to help the cause of Anna Hazare.
One insight of his is right on the mark. Indians are not free and India is not a free country. Maybe, there is hope. If more people like him realize the gravity of the challenge some may take action to remedy the malady. All his remarks make painful reading.
You may want to keep the following in mind. Unlike taxi drivers everywhere, you and your idealist colleagues are doing something to improve the lot of the less fortunate. Please ignore complaints and keep doing what you are doing.
Some day it would be great to see India emerge as the IMF to give a hand up to the needy in the world. SuZ above is the hope of India.
:) I have been roaming in autos for almost two decades now :) and its wonderful to talk with them!!
:) come to hyderabad for the colloquial hindi touch!
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