018 - AutoRide

I haven’t sat in an auto in a very long time not because I didn’t want to but because I’ve always had my own mode for transport.

I remember this one time,
I was 4 and I had asked the auto driver to turn on the AC, yeah I know, stupid but innocent

Anyways, I travelled yesterday to Bangalore, and I had to take an auto to get home.
This auto ride was legit scary, we almost crashed into a bike.

The auto driver and I bonded immediately, he started telling me stories of how terrible the Bangalore traffic is and about these 3 drunk women that refused to pay him after the ride.

It was a fun conversation, he showed me the car he had just bought and told me about how it took him 6 years to get this car.

He also showed me his 10 year old bike, which his mum gifted him and said he'd never sell it.

The man told me quite a few interesting stories about his life, the city and the people around him.

The contrast between our lives hit me immediately, our problems, solutions and differences were massive.

But I made a friend in that journey, regardless of where he came from or where I came from.

At the end of the ride, we wished each other luck and good hope, acknowledged each other’s stories, and wished each other goodbye.

I don’t know if we’ll cross paths ever again, but someday if we do, I will show him this story I wrote about him.