Meru taxi service has largely been reliable, so Krishnan had booked a Meru taxi to take us to the railway station today. Just half hour before the scheduled time, we got a message saying there aren’t any taxis available so a “flexi” taxi was being sent. Krishnan was a little apprehensive but the driver called almost right after the SMS was received and confirmed our location. He spoke well in English and Krishnan was very happy.
When we boarded the taxi, the one striking difference was the cleanliness and it was a non-smelly car. A fully awake, smiling driver at 6.30 am is rare in Delhi NCR. As we started off to our destination, the driver saw the roadside school and immediately mentioned about how it will soon get a grant from the government and then it will start charging more fees. He spoke of how his daughter studies really well and gets good grades, but the school never gives the receipt for the full amount of the donation.
Then he spoke of the CM of Delhi and the odd-even plan to reduce pollution. He was aware that the scheme runs successfully in Singapore but he felt it was implemented in Delhi in a hurry without much thought. He knew that pollution also increased due to the construction activities and burning of plastic and other material during winters. He said pollution levels went down when it rained because all the construction dust settled.
The CM of Delhi according to him is corrupt and just spending money on advertisements – he says, everyone knows who the CM is, the 500 crore could have gone in building a couple of subways or flyovers that would have eased the traffic flow. When I questioned him about AAP getting nearly all the seats in the Delhi elections, he said the CONteam’s candidates were asking voters to vote for AAP…. And the rest of India thought AK won fair and square and on his own !!.
The most interesting piece of news that he shared was the distribution of the LED bulbs at nearly 50% discounted rates to households by the central Government under the UDAY scheme so that the consumption of electricity is reduced. A true Aam Aadmi speaking about a beneficial scheme and power saving – will any paid media put this on the front page ? What that half-baked-much-wooed-antisocial says about the 1984 riots is front page news :(:(. Piyush Goyal, take a bow. You have empowered the power ministry and thank you for doing such a stellar job. Great feedback from a common citizen of this country.
CM of Delhi – काम तो कर लो .. बातें करने के लिए कन्हैया तैयार है । (In English – please get to work … Kanhaiya is ready to do the talking). Striking similarity between the CM of Delhi and Kanhaiya – shoot from the hip, allege whatever, call Modi names, and don’t deliver on any promises. Twins maybe ? Might have been separated during the AOL culture event on the flood plains of the Yamuna ?
Note – I won’t share the name of the Taxi driver nor his number … With the above mentioned intolerant stars roaming freely in a free country I fear for the driver’s safety.