Day 32- Head over Heart

This happened on one Friday night on my way back from Hyderabad.

Its 9.30 and I get in to a prepaid taxi at the domestic airport at Mumbai to go back home. The driver gets in but along with him a younger man, very casually, also gets into the taxi and sits next to the driver.

I ask the driver, "Yeh kaun hai?". The driver replies, "Yeh bhi driver hai...usey Andheri highway pe utarna hain". I sternly reply, "Usko utaaro... yeh nahi aayega hamare saath." The driver looks at me and smilingly says "Mere bharose ka aadmi hai" as if trying to reassure me. I retort, "Aapka uspe bharosa hoga, mera nahi hai. Unko abbhi utarne ko bolo". Hearing my indignant voice, the man gets off without a word and then me and the driver head home.

- This situation has probably happened with many of us. The man may have been harmless for all you know and would have gotten off at Andheri as was meant to be. But what if he wasn't! Now imagine an outsider from a small city in my situation. With all the naivete and simplicity, would have surely believed the driver and accepted his request, believing it to be true. 

So I asked myself, "Are these the unfortunate stories we see in newspapers?."

Better to go with the head than the heart in situations when we are dealing with strangers and strange situations. Safety is non-negotiable!