The guy got out of the plane first, his wife followed and somewhere in between came their son. Mumbai was not warm; it was quite pleasant. At the terminal, they got the prepaid taxi ticket. Fortunately, there was no queue for the Taxi but some confusion ensued in finding an A/C taxi. The driver was an old man with truck loads of eagerness for small talk. The guy handed the prepaid bill and a small pink colored ticket that he received from the counter to the driver. The driver returned the pink ticket which had Rs.15 mentioned on it. "Airport waale appse lootne ka receipt diya hain" he said "aap he rakhiye isse". This seemed like an ominous sign of unpleasantness coming by. The guy got into the front seat while the wife and son got into the back.
The sights of Mumbai captured their attention for the next few minutes. During this time, the driver paid attention to the messiness of the roads. Soon they go into the free way and the driver took his feet off the attention pedal. He looked at the rear view mirror at the occupants of the back seat and then asked the man "bachchon ko Mumbai goomane aye ho". The word "bachchon" touched a raw nerve but the man ignored and said "haan". The conversation did not end there though. The inquisitive driver continued with "aur madam?" The guy turned red with embarrassment and anger. Through gnashing teeth he said "peeche baitee hain". "Nahin, mein madam ke baare mein pooch raha hoon" persisted the driver. The man controlled him emotion by holding his hands in a tight bind and reiterated "peeche baitee hain". "Oooooo acha" exclaimed the driver. He took out a pair of spectacles from his pocket, put it on and looked intently at the wife in the rear view mirror. "Bahut chotti dikti hain, donon ka umar mein bahut farak hain" concluded the driver. By this time, the guy was looking intently out of the window at anything and everything; wayside scenes had never interested him more. The thought "such a nice place" forced its way into his mind.
"Nahin nahin" chipped in the wife with a blush. "Oooo sorry" said the driver "galti ho gaya". The driver now continued with his apology wherein he touched upon his age, his poor eyesight, the guy having a shave to look younger and so on to make worse an already embarrassing situation. "Where the hell is that damned hotel?"
The sights of Mumbai captured their attention for the next few minutes. During this time, the driver paid attention to the messiness of the roads. Soon they go into the free way and the driver took his feet off the attention pedal. He looked at the rear view mirror at the occupants of the back seat and then asked the man "bachchon ko Mumbai goomane aye ho". The word "bachchon" touched a raw nerve but the man ignored and said "haan". The conversation did not end there though. The inquisitive driver continued with "aur madam?" The guy turned red with embarrassment and anger. Through gnashing teeth he said "peeche baitee hain". "Nahin, mein madam ke baare mein pooch raha hoon" persisted the driver. The man controlled him emotion by holding his hands in a tight bind and reiterated "peeche baitee hain". "Oooooo acha" exclaimed the driver. He took out a pair of spectacles from his pocket, put it on and looked intently at the wife in the rear view mirror. "Bahut chotti dikti hain, donon ka umar mein bahut farak hain" concluded the driver. By this time, the guy was looking intently out of the window at anything and everything; wayside scenes had never interested him more. The thought "such a nice place" forced its way into his mind.
"Nahin nahin" chipped in the wife with a blush. "Oooo sorry" said the driver "galti ho gaya". The driver now continued with his apology wherein he touched upon his age, his poor eyesight, the guy having a shave to look younger and so on to make worse an already embarrassing situation. "Where the hell is that damned hotel?"
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