Meeting Lives - 1: A Taxi Man

"Whattt ", I asked in disbelief.
"Yes Sir , I am not eating for next 20 days and I haven't been
eating any food from last 10 days" said Shyamlal, our taxi driver
while driving us towards famous Ranakpur Jain Temples in Rajasthan.
He told me every year in the beginning of Saavan ( rainy season ) he does this and had been doing it from last 10 years already.
'SO you don't eat at all , I mean no fruits , breads etc? "
"No solid food, no grains , sometime some fruits and milk/tea is the
only thing I take".
"How do you survive man ?" was my next question.
'You can make your body the way you want , even your Jain Saints practice
self control of not eating lots of things , non-stop fasts , refraining from luxuries in life."
Later I asked him about his life as a driver and he narrated with quite fun.
He was 9 yrs old when he was married , though wife didn't come to him till he was 21. He failed in class X and after that his father scolded him a lot. He ran away from home and came to his uncle in Udaipur. He was 15 at that time. His uncle taught him driving druck and then he worked as Khalasi cum driver for some time with his uncle. Then he joined his cousin for the same work.
He met with an accident while on duty near Chennai and got both his hands fractured.
His cousin got him back home and after some time he started back his work.
This time he got a taxi and started doing his own business.
I asked him if anything bad happened to him after that and he smiled "lots of times sir".
Once he started a tour from rajasthan to Mathura, Vrindawan and Agra. Agra was last destination
and his party disappeared there from hotel. As usual he never asked for advanced payment.
He said he didn't had enough money to buy diesel to return back to rajasthan ! He somehow managed
this time by carrying passengers from there to rajasthan.
"Don't you get tired on routes ? As I have seen drives sriving non-stop for stretches", I asked.
"That's our job Sir. Last month I was on 21 days tour to char-dhaam and other places. I drove 6000 KMs
in 21 days and I had this tour already 5 times".
I wonder, like air miles , had there been some "road miles" scheme , these people would have been winner with
no near competition.
And how much he earned for this trip ? Apart from Diesel expanses he earned 3000 Rs For 21 days drive tirelessly.
This money comes from commision from hotel where his party stays , manipulated diesel bills and daily vages ( 50 Rs/day )


Final question "Are you happy with your work? "
"Yes,I am so used to of seeing daily money and roads that other works don't excite me at all", He replied.

I was remembering a friend of mine in office , who with a cup of coffee in hand , sitting in AC office on a revolving chair
"Our life is so tough man !! We need more money for the amount of hard work we put "