On Taxi drivers

Taxi drivers make great conversationalists. They know all about the world, have the best G.K. and have an opinion about all things under the sun. But they don't know traffic rules or how as to follow them. They also display a great sense of humour; especially when caught by a traffic police. But its their pick of language or the lack of it, laced with sharp swearing words that are the source of my thorough entertainment. If one respects them for that and leaves them alone then there is lot to be learned. See, they meet so many people in any given day. They must be watching,glaring,staring, listening and talking to so many strangers. And it is not even a forced conversation. So, when a taxi driver greeted me with 'Happy new Year'; I knew he meant it. But that doesn't mean that I had a happy start to the new year. Not when I saw the taxi fare.Most taxis in Mumbai would have a tampered meter. Relax. This is not some kind of a monopolistic fraud mechanism of a racket to loot people of their hard earned money. No taxi driver receives a bonus,pension plan or such; leave alone a tip(I haven't talked about travelling allowance as yet). So they just move a few screws of their meter. It is their way of coping with street stress and driving mental harrassement. This long piece of explanation is also my way of coping with the habit of paying over and above the normal fare. I love to hate my way of rationalising things that need a little bit of change. The world needs some honesty. This also is my resolution this year.