Learn to Smile

Taxiwalas in Mumbai has always inspired me. Every taxi ride in the south Mumbai has been different till now. We were in Marian drive enjoying the sea breeze. I some how just love this place. I just can sit there for hours enjoying the breeze. That was a cool evening. Suddenly everyone start running. Where are the all running??? What is wrong? We still couldn’t find out, but I love the pattern in which they are running away from the marine drive. Suddenly I could figure out why they were running when droplets of water touched me. We suddenly found a shelter in the nearest taxi. He was in no mood to go anywhere. We asked him to take us to Churchgate, which he refused and asked us to be in the taxi till the rain ends. For a while we took this temporary shelter till it was raining.
Once the rain is over we decided to move ahead and have some food. Then the same old question came to our mind, where to go. Then we decided to go to Bademiya. We took a taxi to the destination. We were discussing about how we should believe people around us. We were talking about the trust factor. From there the taxiwala took it from us. He narrated his story, how he came to Mumbai and what was his experience.
He first came to this city of dreams with a big dream to make it big in Bollywood. But destiny had something else for him. He came here with his saving from farming. He was so confident about making it big. But he was cheated by someone who he trusted the most. That was the turning point of his life where he had to leave his dream and fight for his existence. He had to become a taxiwala in the streets of this dream city. Somehow he lost the confidence in his own people. He said the most non trust worthy people are those whom we believe are ours and will stand by our side for anything. Bu the reality is different, it takes a nasty turn, and sometimes they will be the first one to run from you, when they know your friendship is not good for them.
We argued to him that, it is not like that all the time; there are instances where we can get help from people whom you won’t even expect. He agreed with us and narrated an instance where he was struggling to pay the fees of his child. His son was good enough to get into one of the top colleges of the city but his admission will only be confirmed with an initial payment of fees, which he don’t have. But suddenly one of his passengers came forward and paid the fees. He still believes that was GOD came in human form. “Hum kabhi kuch nahi karte, Sab Malik ke hath mai hai” What ever happened, he still smiles. He had huge loan to be repaid, his wife is not well, but still he smiles and loves his job. There are lots of things to be learned from him and to be implemented in our life. How to smile in the middle of worst problems cannot be taught in a classroom. Your experience counts the most.