I hail a cab in Chennai late in the evening. As expected the driver efficiently pulls up with the help of the GPS. I get in, and after he starts the trip, start listening to music on my phone. Suddenly a vehicle cuts my cab. The cab driver (CD) exclaims " Just look at him sir. How they drive here!"
I keep my earphones aside. I am trying to make sense of his outburst. He continues,
CD : A similar thing happened some days ago Sir. Near Anna Nagar one share auto driver cut my car and almost smashed my side mirror. I asked him to stop and he sped away. I chased him, parked my vehicle in front of his and asked him why he fled instead of apologizing.
Me : So did he pay you for the mirror?
CD : Of course not sir, had it been my native district I would have argued with him, here in Chennai all I can expect is a sorry!
Me : Where do you hail from?
CD : Vellore district sir, a small village on the outskirts.
Me : So how long have you been driving in Chennai?
CD : 15 days sir.
Me : How profitable is it? I hear there's decent money to be earned in the cab business nowadays.
CD : Its quite profitable sir, but my heart is not in this profession.
Me : What are you interested in then?
CD : Agriculture sir!
Me : That's surprising. Youngsters like you want to leave villages and work in cities.
CD : The kind of peace that comes with cultivating your own crops, I don't get by driving this vehicle sir. I have some ancestral land back in the village. I tried to work on it, but my family would have none of it.
Me : Why?
CD : A relative's son got into this business, he came to my village and boasted around a bit. That's all, my family also started nagging me about going to the city and earning money.
Me : Do you earn much from cultivation nowadays?
CD :Not much sir, but I wanted to do something different. I wanted to cultivate mushrooms. Again, my family prefers cultivating cereals because that doesn't require a lot of effort. I even applied for a loan for raising cattle. I thought I could start doing something in animal husbandry.
Me : What about the yield? Wont you need fertilizers for that?
CD: I prefer organic farming sir. I used to use dung and neem leaves as fertilizer. It isn't that easy. It has to be made in a particular fashion. The farmers in my village have forgotten how to raise crops without chemical fertilisers. When I tried to cultivate mushrooms they wouldn't even help me till the land. I had to do it all alone.
Me : Do you have a degree in agriculture? You seem to have a lot of knowledge .
CD : I see a lot of videos about agriculture on youtube sir. I tried talking to my family members to change their farming practices,but they wouldn't listen to me. They told me not to argue with them, as they have been tilling this land for decades.
Me : Whenever you want to change something, people will oppose.
CD : I don't understand why my own family doesn't support me. Normally, bankers are very conservative and never give loans, but in my case the bankers agreed to sanction 3 lakhs for animal husbandry, but my family convinced my grandmother not to sign on the documents.
Me : That's sad. What do you plan to do now?
CD : They want me to earn money, I want to work on my land. So, I thought till the rains come I could drive here, save whatever I can, go back to my village and purchase a transport vehicle. I can use the money I save as a down payment and purchase a second hand tempo with a bank loan. I'll use it to earn money and whatever I can, I'll put in my field.
Me : That's a good idea. But will you be able to repay the loan? Isn't it better to drive a little longer and purchase the vehicle without the loan?
CD : A loan motivates the borrower to work sir, so that he can repay the EMI. I have seen many people in my village take loans, repay them and then sit idle. No EMI, no pressure to work. Also, agriculture is such that if I don't put in efforts regularly, it won't be of much use.
Me : What do you plan to cultivate?
CD : Mushrooms, flowers and vegetables sir. Of course, finding a market will be a problem, since Vellore is neither close to Chennai or Bangalore, but still may as well try and do something I like, than do something I don't like.
In the meantime I reached my destination.
Me : Nice talking to you. You have great plans. Maybe initially you will face some opposition, but once your family sees that you walk the talk even they will start becoming supportive and you will be on the way to fulfilling your dreams
This conversation left me thinking.
Most cab rides, I get in, plug into some music or remain glued to my mobile phone and just wait for the journey to end. Sometimes I enjoy the scenery. Sometimes I sit and mope about the traffic.
For the first time, I got a glimpse into someones else's life. Where he came from, his dreams, his plans, his problems.
A memorable conversation for a long time to come.
I keep my earphones aside. I am trying to make sense of his outburst. He continues,
CD : A similar thing happened some days ago Sir. Near Anna Nagar one share auto driver cut my car and almost smashed my side mirror. I asked him to stop and he sped away. I chased him, parked my vehicle in front of his and asked him why he fled instead of apologizing.
Me : So did he pay you for the mirror?
CD : Of course not sir, had it been my native district I would have argued with him, here in Chennai all I can expect is a sorry!
Me : Where do you hail from?
CD : Vellore district sir, a small village on the outskirts.
Me : So how long have you been driving in Chennai?
CD : 15 days sir.
Me : How profitable is it? I hear there's decent money to be earned in the cab business nowadays.
CD : Its quite profitable sir, but my heart is not in this profession.
Me : What are you interested in then?
CD : Agriculture sir!
Me : That's surprising. Youngsters like you want to leave villages and work in cities.
CD : The kind of peace that comes with cultivating your own crops, I don't get by driving this vehicle sir. I have some ancestral land back in the village. I tried to work on it, but my family would have none of it.
Me : Why?
CD : A relative's son got into this business, he came to my village and boasted around a bit. That's all, my family also started nagging me about going to the city and earning money.
Me : Do you earn much from cultivation nowadays?
CD :Not much sir, but I wanted to do something different. I wanted to cultivate mushrooms. Again, my family prefers cultivating cereals because that doesn't require a lot of effort. I even applied for a loan for raising cattle. I thought I could start doing something in animal husbandry.
Me : What about the yield? Wont you need fertilizers for that?
CD: I prefer organic farming sir. I used to use dung and neem leaves as fertilizer. It isn't that easy. It has to be made in a particular fashion. The farmers in my village have forgotten how to raise crops without chemical fertilisers. When I tried to cultivate mushrooms they wouldn't even help me till the land. I had to do it all alone.
Me : Do you have a degree in agriculture? You seem to have a lot of knowledge .
CD : I see a lot of videos about agriculture on youtube sir. I tried talking to my family members to change their farming practices,but they wouldn't listen to me. They told me not to argue with them, as they have been tilling this land for decades.
Me : Whenever you want to change something, people will oppose.
CD : I don't understand why my own family doesn't support me. Normally, bankers are very conservative and never give loans, but in my case the bankers agreed to sanction 3 lakhs for animal husbandry, but my family convinced my grandmother not to sign on the documents.
Me : That's sad. What do you plan to do now?
CD : They want me to earn money, I want to work on my land. So, I thought till the rains come I could drive here, save whatever I can, go back to my village and purchase a transport vehicle. I can use the money I save as a down payment and purchase a second hand tempo with a bank loan. I'll use it to earn money and whatever I can, I'll put in my field.
Me : That's a good idea. But will you be able to repay the loan? Isn't it better to drive a little longer and purchase the vehicle without the loan?
CD : A loan motivates the borrower to work sir, so that he can repay the EMI. I have seen many people in my village take loans, repay them and then sit idle. No EMI, no pressure to work. Also, agriculture is such that if I don't put in efforts regularly, it won't be of much use.
Me : What do you plan to cultivate?
CD : Mushrooms, flowers and vegetables sir. Of course, finding a market will be a problem, since Vellore is neither close to Chennai or Bangalore, but still may as well try and do something I like, than do something I don't like.
In the meantime I reached my destination.
Me : Nice talking to you. You have great plans. Maybe initially you will face some opposition, but once your family sees that you walk the talk even they will start becoming supportive and you will be on the way to fulfilling your dreams
This conversation left me thinking.
Most cab rides, I get in, plug into some music or remain glued to my mobile phone and just wait for the journey to end. Sometimes I enjoy the scenery. Sometimes I sit and mope about the traffic.
For the first time, I got a glimpse into someones else's life. Where he came from, his dreams, his plans, his problems.
A memorable conversation for a long time to come.
