~ Mir Chand - An unexpected Encounter...~

Life makes you meet the unexpected. All you need to do is to keep your eyes and ears open and there would be signs everywhere that will give you your daily dose of learnings. One such incidence I write today made me almost bet on the existence of ‘Faith in the Almighty’ – Now that I am wording my thoughts past midnight I am still in remembrance of an autorickshaw driver I recently quite accidently met during my annual religious sojourn.

His quite demeanor and his acceptance of situations of life made me carry towards him and in just ten odd minutes that I took a ride with him we shared the world and the real life’s meanings! His name was Mir Chand and he was as polite in his speech as his appearance.

Whilst I was lookout for a means of transport, probably an autorickshaw  which is most common at a place I was travelling, I went towards a serpentine queue of auto’s ready to pick up customers as they arrived one by one – the rule being that once an auto is hired, the next one gets its turn. Whilst my turn came and I started to bargain about fare from this gentleman, he quite subtly told me the fare per person. To which I replied “Sir, you are charging much, we are five people and it will cost us much!”

He smiled a little and replied with equal verdict “ Sir, I will not charge even a single pie extra – you can please have a look at the government rates which have been allocated to us auto drivers per sitting.”

I turned my head and he was right – he was charging Rs 50 per customer as was mentioned on the big hoarding as a government order. I felt defeated and humbled – my argument stood no point. He smiled and we all five accommodated ourselves in his auto to start our quick journey.  

In the midst I started the conversation by asking his name. He replied with a humbled tone “Mir Chand”. Now that I had found the title, I asked him “Mir Chand Ji, how are things now here, now that tourists have started to flock this place.”

He laughed silently and replied “Sir, I have been standing here since 11 a.m. in the morning and now it is 3:30 p.m. – you are being my first customer and all I will earn is Rs 250. The situation is grim, and things have not improved since last year due to Covid. Everyday is a struggle for us!”

The manner in which he told me his predicament made me his fan – how can one tell his sordid tale in a subtle manner  here I was communicating with a man who has been waiting for 4.5 hours in a queue for his turn and telling me his sorry state of things with a laugh and a composure. He was not in a hurry and was totally comatose and had resigned himself to the situation he was living BUT was doing his Karma with aplomb and honesty – with all dignity of labour!

I chatted thus “Mir Chand ji, how many people are there in your family and what they do?”

He replied “Sir, I have an old father and mother and a 6-year-old son and a wife who is a homemaker. My son studies in class 2^nd and is now not going to school due to the pandemic”

I soon realized thus, Gosh - he was feeding a family of five including himself and his struggle was genuine – his salt and pepper hair was a telling tale of his life. But the only thing which catapulted me into becoming his fan was the calmness of his stature. A man in such a precarious position in life and still a smile on his face and his belief in the existence of living was truly remarkable.

Soon our destination came and it was time to get off our ride – whilst making a payment as I didn’t had the change, I took out Rs 500 and expected the balance from him – He again smiled and said “ Sir, I don’t have the change and he showed me his open purse which had two Rs 10 rupee notes.!” I felt ashamed and quickly corrected my folly and thought of going-dutch and thus gathered Rs 300 to be given to him.

He again reminded me of his inability of not being able to give back Rs 50 as he had no change.

This time I put my point and told him “Mir Chand ji, keep the change Sir.”

He quickly spoke “Yeh mat kijiye” – Don’t do this and held back my hand. I insisted but he had made up his mind and took the money and asked me to wait. In no time he came back with the change and paid me Rs 50 which was over the charge.

He smiled again and said “Ok sir, time to go!”

I finally asked him “Where will you go now?”

He quickly replied “Sir, back to the queue, may be this time my turn would come in few hours.”

Quoting this, he kickstarted his auto and soon vanished from my sight. He made me stood in silence of time and deep down inside me something shook my conscience made me thoughtful of the situation.

What on earth such a man was doing and from where he had the courage to live a life as he was living, chasing the timelines and that too with a façade of silence, patience and all smiles whilst he talked to me!

Now as I jot down his story, I am continuously thinking about him as I know for sure, he must be in his queue for the next set of customers that he might be expecting to catch and make an honest living!

Before we bid a final adieu, I had taken his number and finally messaged him today  – “ Mir Chand ji – Next time I am there ( which will be this year only!) , I promise, I will hire your auto and ask you to show me the entire town – all day! As having lived more than half of my life, I have found very less souls as him – honest, polite and living in situational harmony!!!