A Government Job for a Cab driver

It was getting late and I was struggling to find a cab. Finally I gave up and walked down A J C Bose Road to the RS metro station. At times like these I know why the expanding metro network with all its current irritants will one day become Kolkata’s lifeline. I was lucky. It was an AC car and I found a seat.  I love small privileges such as these seats reserved for ladies in public transport systems. Working women with nine to five jobs are amazing. They manage husbands, kids , elders at  home , truant  maids, all household jobs and then dress beautifully in colour coordinated schemes , share their sorrows and blisses with friends and colleagues, laugh ,bitch , backbite and earn money . If they are alone they look indifferent but the moment they are with friends they light up.

I can never stop admiring these ladies whenever I am with them. The ladies zone in the metro was no different and I was having a lovely time listening to the mindless chatter around me. My attention was suddenly diverted towards the exit. A young man was smiling looking at my direction and trying to say something. It took me some time to realise that this co –traveller was one of my loyal cabbie brothers from my previous taxi booth. He looked tired but seemed happy. He was also returning home from work. I was interested .What work and what happened to his cab?

He and his brother owned several cabs .He was a graduate and had been trying hard to get a government job as a professional driver. Ultimately he had succeeded in getting a job with the state transport department. He found the hard life of driving on long distance routes better than driving cabs on city streets though he owned his vehicle. Most cabs on the streets are driven by hired drivers or by drivers who rent cabs from owners.  

Bengalees are not entrepreneurs by nature. To the average  Bengalee, having a govt job with regular pay and other benefits and zero accountability, is better than running your own enterprise .This man was no different. He felt he was blessed now that he had a permanent “Government job”.  He had got his daughter admitted to a good school in Kolkata and shifted his nuclear family to the city. He does not have time to visit his parents, his extended family in the suburbs where he used to go every week earlier. He does not seem to mind. He has a government job.

Ref: Pic above
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