Taxiride

My relationship with the fine cab-drivers of this city continues to flourish. I have no idea why they open up and discuss their problems with me, but I usually walk away feeling a little wiser. Today turned out to be no different.

With the rain-clouds playing truant over the last few days (after heavy showers last week), the humidity was back to its vicious worst. As I seated in the back-seat of a taxi outside work, the cabbie sped off. Stopping at an intersection, another taxi slid close to our taxi. Both the taxi-drivers knew each other. The other taxi had four passengers, which at that time of day indicated some decent pocket change for the driver of that taxi. Our taxi smiled ruefully at him,"Enjoy the business. It's a good day to make money."

The other taxi sped away, and our taxi moved in a different direction. The senior gent driving our cab cleared his throat.
"I just paid off Rs. 1000 to this 'chap' so that he wouldn't harass me later on for my licence or route."
I just looked back at him politely. This was not exactly ground-breaking news.
"This 'chap' was missing for some six months. Said he had to go to his village. Same village as the guy who owns this taxi. They are all in this together."
I mumbled out a sympathetic reply.
"He came back yesterday. After six months. He tells me to give him money immediately. He wants six months commission in one shot."
That seemed obvious enough; if I were an extortionist, I would do the same.
"I asked him,'why do you need all the money now?'
"He replied,'My wife wants me to buy her jewels.'
"I got irritated with him. 'So what will your wife do with all the jewels? You cannot buy medicines, food or rugs with jewels. Jewelry is useless; you can only wear them.'"
This seemed to make eminent sense, except I wasn't sure I would deal with an extortionist in that same vein.
"Tell me, sir, what would you do with jewels. They only shine."
I agreed, and said so.
"Exactly. Now look at this fool. He is young and gets married. His wife is also young. They have great ambitions of being wealthy. But they don't have enough on what he is making. They are both stupid to want to spend on jewels.
"I told him,'You don't have children. You should save for children. I will pay you when you have children. Otherwise, you will simply waste your money and come back for more. Then, I may not have money. So get lost!'"
That was remarkable; not just reasoning with an extortionist, but telling him when he will get his money!!
"These people are stupid, sir. They never save enough for their children. Even the money they make, they will just keep it as cash at home. He must be out there, harassing someone else."
Now I was really curious as to what would follow next.
"Look at me. I have one lakh rupees. There is this person I know who works in Nariman Point. I drop him everyday. He is from the same village as me. I went to his office and he graciously agreed to meet me. I told him,'I have one lakh rupees. I don't know what to do with this money but I know I don't want to spend it. Please take care of it.'
"He agreed. This was eighteen months ago. He invested that money for me in the stock markets. In eighteen months, I have made thirty five, maybe forty, thousand rupees... and thats even after the market has fallen. Now that is what you should do with your money."
I just stared back at him.
"Now look at my life as a taxi-driver. If I were to invest that one lakh into taxis, I would never make that much money. On these roads, the way people drive, I have to spend a lot to take care of scratches and maintenance every day. Maintenance is very high ... then I have to pay for the taxi rental, and I have to pay for commissions. And there are so many taxi drivers anyways."
He paused to sigh.
"This city can sometimes be unforgiving to taxi drivers. You should never invest money into the taxi business. You are better off in the stock markets. If you don't make more money in your business than what the stock markets make for you, you should think twice about your business."
Churchgate loomed in the distance.He halted the car and collected exact fare from me. He seemed relieved to have spoken to someone, and wished me well.

I just got a lesson in economics of a taxi business. I also learnt that being an agent for an extortion racket is not a lucrative profession. After all, crime doesn't pay.