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A good cabbie can give you wonderfully fresh insights and also double up as an
On a recent trip to Goa, the journey was made more interesting by sharply contrasting cabbies, who left their stamp on our trip. The taxi driver who took us to Delhi for our flight was a hard-core cricket enthusiast or more of a betting enthusiast. He certainly could multitask; smsing and driving on the national highway at the same time, with or without both hands on the steering wheel. Any plea to have him just drive fell on deaf ears and earned a scornful look. On our one-and-a-half hour journey from the airport to the hotel, we had a more sincere driver who took his job seriously. Noticing the kids in the cab, he pointed out a few cashew trees, a river and included trivia about hotels where some popular Bollywood movies were shot. Happy to look around the undulating landforms interspersed with water bodies, we did little to encourage small talk. Moreover, we seemed to have touched a raw nerve by inquiring as to why the fares being quoted were way higher than the ones hand-painted on the dashboard. The next morning started on a more positive note. The taxi driver was past his prime and balding but immaculately dressed in whites. From the moment he held open the door for me, I knew this would be an association to remember. The heat and humidity were making the kids edgy and he sensed it immediately. He pointed out many interesting facts about the place on either side of the road to keep them engrossed enough to make them forget the mosquitoes. And he did this happily and ungrudgingly. He seemed very proud of his heritage and was ready put in his best effort to showcase it. When a visit to a local fort left us clueless about its history, he seemed perturbed that there was no one to guide us. From that point on, he took it upon himself to direct us in the right direction. Our conversations with him became the highlight of the day. The most memorable were his ‘tips’ that he offered very often. He was the only one whose name we remember and he was the best! He had a persistent daughter who called often, which produced a hilarious ringtone on his mobile that had the kids in splits. He truly enjoyed what he did and made it a special day for us. But nothing good lasts forever. The next day, in his place we had a rather young driver who seemed to be unfamiliar with either Hindi or English. As numerous beaches and churches passed us by, we had a tough time trying to wring any information out of him and requests to drive slower, so as to get a better glimpse of them, went unheard. On the few occasions he talked or rather answered a query, he was dismissive of any curiosity we had in visiting any place that seemed worthy of a peep but was not the pre-planned destination. We waited in vain for him to give ‘tips’. The only tips that interested him were of the other kind. It dawned on me how a helpful local by your side does make a holiday worth remembering. He has the power to transform a tourist with cartloads of questions to a happy soul, enjoying the vacation. A good guide or taxi driver can definitely make or break any trip.
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A
vacation is not worth anything if you don’t enjoy the journey. For
the net savvy, there is a plethora of information waiting to be
discovered before you plunge into a new world. Then there are others
who confine themselves to the safety of tried-and-tested travel agents
based on reviews of fellow travellers. Some like to make their own
road. For them, the taxi driver is the guide and saviour.