It was also on a Friday the 13th that Mr P was travelling from Baroda to Ahmedabad in a taxi. He had spent much longer time with his friends and it was quite late in the night that he left Baroda. The taxi driver seemed to be an amicable chap who also seemed to love old hindi songs and kept playing them loudly. His mobile phone also kept ringing frequently and it seemed to be from fellow taxi drivers who wanted to know where he was and from friends who wanted to share the latest gossips. These conversations were not hard to overhear at all as he seemed to believe that if you talk at the top of one's voice, it overcomes the power of distance. On top of that, he wanted to chat with Mr P in a loud voice. So Mr P indicated to the driver that he was planning to take a nap and moved to the back seat. There at least, he was slightly better off with the noise pollution. Mr P kept his eyes closed and pretended to fall asleep.
The taxi sped through the streets of Baroda and just before it entered the Expressway connecting the city with Ahmedabad, the driver stopped at a junction. Mr P opened his eyes and sat up to see why the car had stopped. The driver turned around and told Mr P that he was going to get a cup of tea and some "paan" before they hit the Expressway. He asked whether Mr P needed to get a drink as well. Mr P indicated in the negative and pretended to go back to sleep again. As he did not want to start another barrage of conversation he proceeded to make a show of putting some cotton plugs in his ears and closed his eyes. The driver clearly understood the message Mr P was trying to convey and decided not to try and converse with Mr P again. He left for his tea and 'paan'.
Mr P kept looking at his watch and noticed that the driver was taking a long time with his tea break. The thought of tea suddenly made a craving for some cardamom tea grow in him and he succumbed. It was always like this with Mr P. A lot of his good intentions and decisions somehow get overridden and that later landed him in trouble. So Mr P got out of the car and walked to a nearby tea shop and enjoyed a cuppa.
On returning back, Mr P noticed that the driver was still not there. But then the car was not there either!
Initially he thought he could have erred on the exact place where the car had been left. So he walked up and down the streets a bit, trying to locate the car. When these attempts failed, Mr P took out his mobile phone. "What an idiot I am," he thought. " I can ring and ask the driver where exactly the car is."
Mr P rang the driver and the driver answered the phone.
"Hello"
"Hello" said the driver and the phone went dead.
Mr P rang a few more times and did not get to the driver. The message on the phone said "Out of range.."
Mr P persisted and got to the driver again. The ensuing conversation went like this.
"Are you the driver?" he asked.
"Yes, I am the driver. And there are many taxi drivers in Gujarat. Whom do you want?"
"Where are you?"
" I am halfway down the Expressway linking Baroda to Ahmedabad. Who wants to know?"
" Hey, this is Sahib here.."
"What sahib? Which sahib?"
"That sahib who was supposed to be taken from Baroda to Ahmedabad in your car this evening"
"Ha, Ha, Ha! What a joke! Are you a ghost of that sahib? Because I did pick up the original sahib from Baroda and he is fast asleep in the back of the car! Or is it a ghost in the back of my car? He He He!"
"YOU ----------- --------- --------" (These words are censored. Could be SAALEY KUTHEY KAMIINEY---- the hindi equivalents of some English foul language). "Turn around and see if there is a ghost in the back of your car."
"D---! I am so sorry sir! I am coming back to get you sir!"
One can only imagine how long it would have taken or how the driver could have come back "to get Mr P" considering there are not that many exits on the Expressway from Baroda to Ahmedabad!
The taxi sped through the streets of Baroda and just before it entered the Expressway connecting the city with Ahmedabad, the driver stopped at a junction. Mr P opened his eyes and sat up to see why the car had stopped. The driver turned around and told Mr P that he was going to get a cup of tea and some "paan" before they hit the Expressway. He asked whether Mr P needed to get a drink as well. Mr P indicated in the negative and pretended to go back to sleep again. As he did not want to start another barrage of conversation he proceeded to make a show of putting some cotton plugs in his ears and closed his eyes. The driver clearly understood the message Mr P was trying to convey and decided not to try and converse with Mr P again. He left for his tea and 'paan'.
Mr P kept looking at his watch and noticed that the driver was taking a long time with his tea break. The thought of tea suddenly made a craving for some cardamom tea grow in him and he succumbed. It was always like this with Mr P. A lot of his good intentions and decisions somehow get overridden and that later landed him in trouble. So Mr P got out of the car and walked to a nearby tea shop and enjoyed a cuppa.
On returning back, Mr P noticed that the driver was still not there. But then the car was not there either!
Initially he thought he could have erred on the exact place where the car had been left. So he walked up and down the streets a bit, trying to locate the car. When these attempts failed, Mr P took out his mobile phone. "What an idiot I am," he thought. " I can ring and ask the driver where exactly the car is."
Mr P rang the driver and the driver answered the phone.
"Hello"
"Hello" said the driver and the phone went dead.
Mr P rang a few more times and did not get to the driver. The message on the phone said "Out of range.."
Mr P persisted and got to the driver again. The ensuing conversation went like this.
"Are you the driver?" he asked.
"Yes, I am the driver. And there are many taxi drivers in Gujarat. Whom do you want?"
"Where are you?"
" I am halfway down the Expressway linking Baroda to Ahmedabad. Who wants to know?"
" Hey, this is Sahib here.."
"What sahib? Which sahib?"
"That sahib who was supposed to be taken from Baroda to Ahmedabad in your car this evening"
"Ha, Ha, Ha! What a joke! Are you a ghost of that sahib? Because I did pick up the original sahib from Baroda and he is fast asleep in the back of the car! Or is it a ghost in the back of my car? He He He!"
"YOU ----------- --------- --------" (These words are censored. Could be SAALEY KUTHEY KAMIINEY---- the hindi equivalents of some English foul language). "Turn around and see if there is a ghost in the back of your car."
"D---! I am so sorry sir! I am coming back to get you sir!"
One can only imagine how long it would have taken or how the driver could have come back "to get Mr P" considering there are not that many exits on the Expressway from Baroda to Ahmedabad!
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