Words of Wisdom

'International Airport' Andheri wala. and I sat in the auto.
I had taken bath before leaving home so I was very relaxed and planning to have a good silent conversation with self in the auto ride. but my planning lived only for a short while and a speed breaker(Broken road) broke the silent trip as well as the silence of the driver.
after customary welcome slangs he started to wonder at the sorry state of the roads of mumbai.
'I don't know why they cant make good roads in mumbai, after all they are earning so much in mumbai.'
'now a days even election time does not provoke leaders enough to keep their basic promises.'
'rich men are getting richer and poor do not have the place to sleep and a thing to eat.'
'bumbai main bahut paisa hai. people are even earning on phone. just talking to each other and earning dalaali.'

Hold on cowboy! Its my turn now.
'Are you from M.P.' I asked. 'How do u know' with a big smile he said.
That was the first time he smiled in the full conversation(one sided).
'Accent u know', 'I had a knack for accent.'
I myself did not know that I will say such a thing ever but i just did. Strange!
now he introduced himself more formally before putting his views on the general sorry state of everything. Since last 34 years he is an auto driver in mumbai. and he can talk about almost everything you say or think.
'Mumbai main agar power cut ho jaaye to this place will be a dead place. Only 24 hours electricity is keeping this place alive.' totally agreed.
'I have seen murders happening on the mumbai roads. nobody cares for anybody.'
'I also had the chance of going to dubai and making it big when I was young. but I was too scared to take that chance. gaanv ka budhdhi hai na isiliye. You have to travel via ship and you dont know when you will be back in india. scary scenario'
'Oh you are working in a software company. Lage raho. ek naa ek din aap successful ho hi jaaoge' quiet impressive words of wisdom, i must say.
I think I like talking to strangers. Especially drivers. I dont know but I could always have a good conversation with all sorts of drivers.
I gave him the fare. He did not even looked into the meter to cross check.
'It was nice to have somebody from our side(though i am not from M.P. but not being from mumbai and being from a neighbour state, makes me from his side)'. We exchanged smiles and I turned back and left.