Hey Taxi! Hayeah!!

Mumbai is one of the safest cities I know. Well I speak as if I have stayed in a number of cities but in comparison to Delhi/Noida/Gurgaon, Mumbai is heaven. Well if you must know I was mugged once in Mumbai. But even then I consider it safer (it was a one of case). In Delhi I have been pick-pocketed, blackmailed by a number of autowalas, slapped (by a policeman), left stranded (at 9 pm), seen my driver get beaten up, witnessed eve-teasing, and been roughed up (again by a policeman). Sorry I got carried away. What I was trying to say was that in Mumbai it feels safe. So safe that my Mom would always let me and my brother go to school by ourselves. Or atleast when we had reached secondary school.

Now there were three ways to reach our school. On foot (it was like a 1 Km from our place), by bus, or by taxi. When I just entered secondary school (grade 6) my brother was in grade 8. I, my brother, and a couple of his friends always traveled to school together. Since a bus ticket would cost Rs. 3 each for my brother and his friends, and Rs. 1.5 for my ticket (Thats right! Half-ticket) it made more sense to just take the taxi which cost us just Rs. 13 (In your face, Delhi!) for the trip to school. Now even when the city is safe and the people are really friendly, as a child you always have a fear. The fear of getting kidnapped. I mean the taxi-driver could drive us anywhere. We were just kids. We did not also enjoy the idea of jumping from a moving taxi. So before hiring a taxi, we would always have a plan. A simple plan of words. The following is the one conversation repeated everytime I travelled in a cab with my brother and his friends to school:

Sagun (My brother): So Shalabh....How are your Karate classes going on?

Shalabh: Great! I just earned my black-belt! My teacher says I can beat up anybody!

Me: I finally gave my test for yellow belt. I have really improved my kick.

Abhishek: You guys should come and see my boxing practice.

Reached the school. Instilled fear in the taxi-driver that these kids can bring pain. Mission accomplished!