An Extraordinary Conversation between Autowala and CA

Last week when I went to Gurgaon, I didn’t know a rare short ride with Autowala from Metro Station to Consultant’s office would become the story of my next blog. Sometimes, things happen in life for no reason just because they were destined to be. Here, we go:-

After getting down at Sikandarpur Metro Station, I made quick inquiry of fare from nearby auto-drivers but somehow didn’t convince with them. I recalled my Dad’s good old advice to always scout for some far away autowalas to get better deal. Soon, I found the one and approached him.

I asked, ‘Bhiaya ! Golf Course Road.’

He said, ' 70 bucks.'

I bargained, ‘It’s too high, I would give Rs. 50.'

He replied, ‘No,  My price is fixed.’

I  replied- ‘Okay, Let's seal at 60 bucks.’

With a smile, he said ‘Bhaiya you came at wrong place, I don't bargain.’

I knew I was at the right place and sat in his auto on his terms.

While driving, he explained, ‘ I follow a fixed retail shop concept, I am not like others. I don’t know whether am I right or wrong but I am like this only. I feel there should be a Metering system so as to no need of bargaining.’

I said, ’ While Delhi has metered autos, even then they don’t follow it and  I was surprised to hear that you follow it even without having it here.’

I noticed how many times he has spoken in perfect English and his different thinking certainly made an impact on me.

I complimented ‘You have a good command over English, how come ?’

He said, ‘I know, everyone says that.’

I continued, But I want to add one more thing. Your unconventional thinking, different approach of doing work, your command over English, shows that you are capable to do something more big than what are you doing.

He replied thoughtfully’ ‘What else I could do more ? I am doing my work perfectly. It’s better to do small things perfectly instead doing big things imperfectly.

I, at my philosophical best, argued, ‘That’s fine, But then you will never be able to do big things, you atleast have to try for that’.

He, said, ‘Everyone works hard, but only those, who are lucky, become successful.        

I disagreed and said, ’There is nothing like Luck, it’s a bloody misconception, What makes someone successful is his ability to think and do big. I can’t believe that you can’t think big.

He said,  ‘I am sorry, but I disagree with your viewpoint, may be we are thinking in different ways. If you are saying, Okay, I accept that I failed, I did all wrong things in life, I took wrong decisions, I couldn’t achieve anything big.

We both remained silent.

He broke silence and said, this time in English, ‘You are my past'.

I was shocked to hear that. I asked, ‘What do you mean by that ? Will you elaborate’

He replied’ Ye samjhlo ki mai bhi aapki tarah tha, mere bhi sapne the, mene bada karne ka sochta tha, mene bahut mehnat bhi ki, par mujhe har business me sirf loss hi loss laga, ab jake me mai thoda bahut thik kar raha hu, shayad mera bad luck tha ki mujhe autowala hi banna tha’.

Before I could say anything, my stop came. I paid fare and headed for meeting. But few seconds later, I stopped. Something stopped me, I felt there was something more in his story, that ‘You are my past’ thing stuck in my mind. I returned back and said ‘I am writer and I write blogs.

He understood my intention and immediately said, ’You want to write on me. Write. I am not bothered whether you write on me or not but I am happy you atleast bothered to hear me, hear my story. That’s nice of you.’

I said,’ Sure, I would love to know more about you, but I have to go for meeting, so I will contact you over phone’.

While giving his contact info, his last words in english were ‘Hopefully You will call me.’

Every often, we hear, read, come across success stories, rags to riches stories, startup stories. Frankly, these stories either inspire you or make you jealous. But what about those stories which made all possible efforts but still faced failure. I just felt this conversation is worth penning, reading hearing, sharing……..

                                                                                                                             To be continued…….