Seema… yeah that was her name. A girl from Bombay in her early 20’s; slightly nervous, slightly scared, slightly shy, slightly lost …in the strange and hostile crowd of Jaipur.
It was 8:30 PM and she had lost the count of time while praying in the church. One thing that you must never do in an unknown city is – losing the track of time …or you may end up paying dearly. She had realized it …so what if it was slightly late in the day.
With small, unsure & hasty steps she came out of the church into a cruel, dark & unfamiliar world. Tightly clutching on to her white coloured handbag with perspiring hands …a damsel in distress.
Moving around her big wide eyes in search of a cab. Maybe in her nervousness she forgot that in Pinkcity there are no cabs …only minibuses, auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws.
She didn’t want to travel in a mini bus. A bunch of sweaty people, smelling of booze & bidis and staring at her the way a hungry vulture eyes its prey …even the thought of it was enough to turn her off.
Auto rickshaws were totally out of question, especially not at such an unearthly hour. She was alone. What if the driver has bad intentions? What if he takes her somewhere else? No one would even be able to listen to her screams …nor would she be able to jump from the auto.
So, the only option left was a cycle rickshaw. Most of them were occupied, and the couple of ones which were vacant refused to go to Crystal Mall.
Crystal Mall -- the words rang like a bell in my ears …sitting on bike outside the church having a heart-to-heart talk with my special friend. “Hmm… Crystal Mall, isn’t that the place where I’m supposed to go just now?”, I asked. “It sure is”, my friend said.
Those who know me well would know that I have this uncanny habit of teasing my friends. With solely that purpose I told my friend, “You can sit here, I’ll go and drop that girl to Crystal Mall.” My friend looked at me with inquiring eyes and knowing me very well she also jokingly asked me to go ahead. We were chuckling together at the triviality of the discussion …just when the girl comes towards us.
We both were taken aback and wore a dumb expression on our faces. She asked, “Can you please tell me where is the cycle rickshaw stand?” I told her, that to find a rickshaw she needs to cross the lane and go towards the main road. The reply rather than relaxing her, made her more uneasy. She asked timidly, “Is it safe to cross this lane a..alone?” She left after I responded positively.
Just then my conscience told me that what I did wasn’t right. Very lucky are those who get a chance to do something for others, to help others when they need it the most… I got that chance and kicked it away. I told my friend what I felt just then. She looked at me again …the only difference was that this time her eyes weren’t inquiring but enclosed a feeling of understanding and warmth. She smiled and said, “Tanmay, go and drop her to Crytsal Mall.” “But I can’t leave you alone here.”, I said. “Don’t worry about me, I’m familiar with this place. You drop her and come back, I’m waiting for you in the church.”
She knew if I won’t help that girl I may feel guilty about it for a long time to come. Special friends aren’t special for no reason at all. They understand you more than you can understand yourself…
Concept of Giving a Lift
The definition of giving a lift in the “travel context” would be, providing transportation assistance to one or more persons usually during emergencies without expecting any favours in return. The emergency may range from empty petrol tanks & punctured tyres to even lack of money.
Bollywood and Giving Lifts
Although the concept of giving/taking lifts is decades old but its popularity has sky rocketed thanks to the Indian cinema. In every third Bollywood movie one is likely to find situations where the hero offers heroine the lift while she is stuck in heavy rain, drenched in a white transparent saree. Or the couple is offered a lift by a notorious truck driver and then the hero has to save his girlfriend while the driver tries to rape her. In some cases, the truck drivers are good and they take the pregnant heroine to the hospital just in time.
My Romanticism
The very idea of giving someone a lift is very exciting indeed (at least for me, since I love to talk to strangers). Communicating with different people from different backgrounds, different age groups, getting to know different views, different ideas, different thoughts …it’s a great learning experience in itself.
Not to mention the extreme satisfaction that one gets after helping someone selflessly and seeing the smile on their lips & gratitude in their eyes. Trust me …it really makes your day. In this fast and busy life of ours we hardly get time to do something for others, and offering a lift to someone is a somewhat reasonable compensation for that.
Your Practicality
Giving someone a lift isn’t really a party by the beach side. It can be an extremely risky business at times where you have nothing to gain but all to lose. You may end up giving lifts to anti-social elements that may rob you of your money, vehicle, jewellery and even …life. This is one of the main reasons people avoid giving lifts to strangers and I respect that sentiment. In fact, girls should shun away from giving/taking lifts as much as possible.
Why Do I Give Lifts?
Hehe …mein aisa hee hoon. Okay folks, I don’t end up giving a lift to every Tom, Dick & Harry. The kind of person I am, I usually take instinctive decisions. If my instinct tells me that xyz person doesn’t deserve a lift, then I simply don’t give him a lift. While giving someone a lift I usually try to see, how badly does that person need it and how harmless he/she is. Mostly I prefer to offer lifts to old people who are walking by the roadside during the hot & sunny afternoons.
Giving lift, is entirely one’s own risk & responsibility and each individual knows what’s best for him/her. Somewhere in my heart I have this belief that it won’t harm me but enrich me …maybe it’s my love for adventure or maybe I’m tad stupid, but it’s just my belief which I’m standing by till date. It hasn’t betrayed me yet, hopefully it never will…
How The Story Ends?
For those who are wondering what happened to that girl and did I give her a lift or not, read on. I chased her on the bike and stopped in front of her, she was white with fear, thinking someone has come to kidnap her. She heaved a sigh of relief after realizing it was the same guy with whom she had talked in front of the church. I asked, “Would it be fine if I drop you to Crystal Mall?”. “Yeah please do that”, she agreed.
On our way she asked me if my friend was still there. I told her she is waiting in the church and she’ll be fine. In about 10 minutes we reached Crystal Mall and as I left her there, starting to leave without asking for a coffee date or her cell number (remember guys, lift has to be without expecting any favours in return), she blessed me & my special friend saying, “You Both Are Such Angels…”.
© Tanmay Singh, 2005
