Watching the working class on the ground giving their views on Prime Time channels on the problems faced by the ‘mango man’ is way more convincing than the sanitized and expurgated versions continually offered by the anchors and the party spokespersons in heated TV debates and which garner great TRPs for reasons difficult to comprehend !
However, in Mumbai we have a better way of getting our ground reports on the affairs of home state UP by simply engaging in conversations with taxi drivers, majority of whom belong to districts of Eastern UP and warm up to people from that area. They may have left their homes to ply taxis in Mumbai ‘shahar’ but remain connected to their roots.
Yesterday, I had personal work in the familiar Fort Area in SOBO (‘South Bombay’, for the uninitiated !) and afterwards hopped on to a taxi to return to Churchgate station. In my customary way, I politely asked the taxi-wala ‘Dada, kahan ke hai?’ and the reply expectedly was ‘UP’. I said ‘UP mein kahan ?’ and the answer came with a hint of pride – ‘Ayodha’ ! Soon we were talking of the ‘Bhavya’ and magnificent ‘Ram Mandir’ with it’s construction on in full swing for its grand opening slated in January next for the public ! According to him UP was in great shape, under a strong administrator. But, of course !
Our man was curious as to why I was in Mumbai though I hailed from Lucknow and I gave him brief highlights of my travels and transfers across the country while serving in a PSU Bank. Reacting as if to say ‘Hail Fellow, Well Met’, he informed he worked as a driver in a PSU Bank for 17 years after which he quit, not getting promoted as a clerk. I joked that in my Bank, the GM’s Driver was a powerful person and carried some clout.
His grouse was that the Driver of the Big Boss had perks but the hours were long and erratic, sometimes going into late nights. Branches could close no sooner the Day-end was completed but in Administrative Offices, meetings and discussions went on & on. I protested that I had worked as Branch Head and in the early 2003-4, there was ISBS system which few knew about and I’d once spent a night in the branch doing Day-end ! He knowledgeably agreed that those days of ‘migration’ were really tough for branches.
By the time we reached, we had recognized we were ‘bankers of the same feather’. As a fraternal gesture he gave me a discount of Rs.2 on the fare. A real professional there !
Working on Living 