Myooor Vihar......oji right nahin.........left!

We were visiting Delhi to attend Anna's daughter, Priya's wedding. Anna was athimber's[sil's husband] big brother. We all called him Anna.Almost everyone in my husband's side were distant relatives of each other and a very close knit family.So attending Anna's daughter's wedding was a must.My mil,fil and his sister,the great 'aththai' were already with sil two days earlier.Myself,daughter ,dh and his younger brother Sriram arrived on the day before the wedding .Since my Sil couldnot receive us at the railway station, we were asked to come straight to the hall at Connaught place. But Sriram said that we go to Mayur Vihar,my sil's residence,meet Mami ,put our luggages,take rest and attend the main wedding on the next day.


"Do you want to me to get anything from home?I asked..She replied"Just take care of Amma[Mami],see that she had her medicines on time,and bring her with you in the morning".She added " will you manage to find the place from the railway station". To this,my husband said, "Don't worry Prabha,we have the address, see you tomorrow in the morning".So we decided to call a cab or auto rickshaw and find the place. We had some long address... it was Mayur Vihar,Phase something..., Kondlee
Gharoli....and so on.

We called an autorickshaw.The driver a Sardarji, asked,"Oji,sahab,kiththey jaana hai..."[where do you want to go].My husband read out the address from the slip.Sardarji said 'Achcha, Myooor Vihar,main to thodi der pehle wahin gya tha'. ..baith jao....[okay , I went to Mayoor vihar only a short while ago.. sit..]

So, we sat in his auto with our luggages.He drove confidently, all the time talking to us."Where are u from",he asked us." Chennai",we replied. He happily said,"Main bhi ik baar Chennai ,gyaasi, us jageh da naam , kya, haan ,Tambaram".[once I had visited Chennai,a place called, ,yes,Tambaram].

But he looked very comfortable with Delhi traffic,and not once did he leave his eye from the roads as he went on talking.He somehow reminded me of' ' Basanti from Sholay'.
I said "Achcha,bhaisaab, Mayur Vihar kitni door hai,[Okay brother,How far is Mayoor Vihar].He replied 'Madam,abhi bas thodi door.[Only a short distance]and added' Main thodi der pehle wahin gya tha'[I had been there a short while ago].

Then he went on, with his story about his Taambaram visit,but carefully, driving his auto. He told us he had come to visit his uncle in Air Force,colony near Tambaram.He was making us comfortable.So we listened....My bil, Sriram,didnot understand hindi...he started to doze off...Hardly had he driven for a some time ,suddenly,Sardarji stopped the auto. He went behind and checked something at the back,then came back and looked at us "kuch nahin,check kar raha tha"[nothing,just checking].

Then he went on about his Chennai visit as he drove past village -like places, fields,cattle sheds and small ponds . Cow and buffaloes everywhere around, dung smell filled the air. I asked him 'Sardarji,yeh kaunsi jagah hai'[sardarji,which place is this].He replied "abhi aajayega Myooor Vihar".

But after a while he looked doubtful and said 'Oji,ek minute,pooch lete hain[one minute,let us confirm the address].He stopped the auto and asked a man passing by.Then he started the auto again saying" Theek hi hai,hum Kondli mein hi hain,abhi aa jayega 'Myooor Vihar'[it is okay,we are in the right place,Kondlee ,and Mayoor Vihar will come now].

We were starting to get our doubts now.But we dare not argue with a stranger and that too in a new place.So we kept mum.Then,he rode on.What came next were brick kilns,battered buildings,more village like settlements and more open fields and lands.There was no trace of big apartment complexes anywhere near by.We were passing a small bridge road on a hillock.There he stopped again and walked ahead a few yards to talk to a passerby.

Then,suddenly we noticed our auto was moving forward by itself ,down the slope on the road. We yelled with all our might Sadarjeeeeeee.........',he turned around and ran back as fast as he could towards the auto and pounced into the driver's seat and grabbed the steering ."Sorryji.. " he said sheepishly,and all we could do was hold our breaths. We were beginning to get very worried now....

A little further, he stopped ahead and asked another passerby.He said "Ab aahi gaya samjho,us aadmi ne bataaya,ki right se jaana hai".[it has almost come, that man said we have to turn right]Now Sardarji stopped taliking. And the atmosphere in the auto was growing tense.I looked at my husband and he signalled me to be quite.Now,
Sardarji stopped once again and asked some one again,'Right nahi, left ... achcha...theek hai'[not right..... left... okay].

We were irritated now.We were about to call Sil,since we had given up hopes of reaching Mayur Vihar.Then,for one last time,we politely asked Sardarji to take us back to railway station,he honestly said "Oji,nahin ji,main pahuncha doonga,Myoooor vihar "[no, I will take you to Mayur Vihar]Finally,after an hour and 10 minutes or so of a tense and bumpy auto ride, we were relieved to see some sign boards saying 'Mayur Vihar'.

On reaching,lo and behold, what did he do?he turned the tables on us.He wouldn't accept that he didnot know Mayur Vihar,so now he started a new story....,'Oji,lo ,aa gaya Myooor Vihar',maine samjha Phase 3, aur kitna gas waste ho gaya, poora 1 ghanta lag gaya,time waste' and so on.....[Your Mayoor Vihar has come,I thought it was Phase 3,how much gas wasted,it took a full 1 hour,time waste].

We were very angry now and when he told us the auto fare,we were about to faint.We looked at him in disbelief. But we realised that Sardarji,hadnot known the address and was reluctant to admit it.He looked decent and not the swindling types.and he must have exhausted the gas for sure.And.... we didn't know the place either...... We should have gone straight to the wedding hall.

After arguing in Tamil with each other, we decided to give him the 'slightly exhorbitant' rate he charged us.We were too tired to argue with him .And,poor Sardarji,he looked tired and worried too ,driving around almost all the east of Delhi.

But ,after my husband paid him the fare,he smiled and simply said,'Mujhe yaad rakhna,sahab'[remember me, sir].My husband said 'Sardarji, Hum aapko kaise bhool sakte hain'.[how can we ever forget you].He helped us with the luggages and left.

We all had a hearty laugh for days about our famous auto ride and the Sardarji. Even today "Myoooor Vihar........,oji right nahin......left" is a catch line in our family.

Oh Meera,

You are laughing now about myooooooooooor vihar.......I am sure, you must have been that day.

It obvious about the auto drivers...they may actually know the route, but can dodge us to extract extra fare....specially if we are new to the place, they will take you for a visit of the whole city....

Its the same in most of the cities.......

Thanx for sharing that in such a hilarious way....I was smiling and laughing while reading it...

Bye

Meera, as until recent a resident of Mayur Vihar (not Myoor Vihar though that's how the punjabis of Delhi pronounce it), let me tell you all auto and taxi wallahs know Mayur Vihar even though there are four of them! Mayur Vihar Phase I, II and III plus a Mayur Vihar PhI extension where I used to live. Except for the extension all Mayur vihars are divided into various sectors. That Sardarji must have really taken you for a ride because any of these Mayur Vihars is just 20 minutes drive from the Railway station. If you were coming from South you should have got down at Hazrat Nizamuddin instead of New Delhi.. From there it is a lot nearer.

Hi Meera

u narrated the whole phase in a very hilarious way.enjoyed the whole reading ,but it is so troublesome when v happen to face this n tht 2 in an urgency.

bye
raji

Hi meera,

quite a hilarious write up...these ricksha drivers are real cheats i think...face the same problem every year in bangalore...but funny if u think of it afterwards....

Mindi

Hi Meera

That was a well narrated and a wonderful experience of yours...truely said some experiences gives you a catch line in the family

Cheers!!
Anu

Hi Meera
That was a hilarous one about your experience..............
Ya many a time these guys take you for a ride.............
thanks for sharing your experience with us all..............had a hearty laugh

Hi Meera,

So already started to rock !

Good hilariou one dear. This is after the incident but at that time I wonder how you would have felt.

Hi meera,

Enjoyed ur Myooor Vihar......oji right nahin.........left!

Its common in india that auto drivers behave like that they know whole world and can go any where......Any way Ur safe and had a good ride in auto for sometime with out driver..

Hi meera,

Enjoyed ur Myooor Vihar......oji right nahin.........left!

Its common in india that auto drivers behave like that they know whole world and can take us any where......Any way Ur safe and had a good ride in auto for sometime with out driver..

Hugs,
dg..