An account by a woman who bravely stood up for her Uber cab driver
This happened with me yesterday.
I took an Uber Pool to home from office. The driver, Shahid (name changed), was polite and well behaved. I was sharing the cab with a lady, Gayatri (name changed), who was probably in her late 30s. She got into the cab, and within a minute, started arguing with Shahid about her drop.
He explained to her politely that he will drop her at the address provided on the app and she can't choose the route. Gayatri started speaking to the driver in an extremely derogatory tone.
She shouted that she is not new to Uber and he was being stupid. Gayatri started abusing the driver left, right and centre, and even told him that she will slap him.
Shahid remained calm and asked her if he should start the trip. I told Gayatri to relax and explained that there is a miscommunication between her and and the driver.
By this time, she had lost her cool completely and asked Shahid to come to the police station. She even asked me to join her in her complaint. When I disagreed, she started verbally abusing me as well.
Shahid ended my trip, apologised for the inconvenience and asked me to take another ride home. While all this drama was happening, around 20 people and two security persons had gathered around our cab. I gave my number to the security guard so that they could contact me in case police troubles Shahid.
Meanwhile, both Gayatri and Shahid had already dialed 100 and the cops came in no time. I explained to them the situation, gave my number to the police as well in case they wanted my statement.
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| The driver remained calm and asked her if he should start the trip. (Representative image) |
When I was about to leave, one security guard came up to me and said, "Madam, please jao na police station, wo maar daalenge isko. Ladies ka case hai toh iska koi nahi sunega."
Though it was already 9pm and I was scared to go to the police station (first experience), I didn't feel like leaving him in that situation. So I decided to go the police station.
The funny part is that when Gayatri was explaining the ruckus to the constable, he simply asked, "Madam where is the problem?"
When she saw that nothing was working out for her, she started making false accusations against Shahid - that he verbally abusing her and asked her to get out of the car. She asked the police to lodge an FIR against him.
I gave my statement to the police and told them that I am not related to Shahid nor Gayatri, and I had no reason to come here. I told them that I came here to support Shahid who is completely innocent.
She did not leave the police station till 11pm. Gayatri demanded that the driver should apologise and touch her feet as part of the apology. Apparently, she wanted to teach him a lesson. I stayed there till she left the police station.
I spoke to the police, and fortunately, they understood the situation. They told Gayatri that they will take action against him and asked her to leave. Meanwhile, they took Shahid to a room and I could hear the sound of someone being beaten up. I ran to the constable and I said that the driver is not at fault.
To my surprise, they were beating the floor with the belt and Shahid was just making noises with a smile on his face. I don't know if it was right or wrong but I felt happy.
A cop came and thanked me for standing up for Shahid. Otherwise, it would have been a disaster for the driver.
I felt content. I called Shahid after an hour of reaching home. He was sound and safe. Thanks to Mumbai Police for understanding a tricky situation.
(A version of this post first appeared on Himani Jain's Facebook page.)