My girlfriend made me do a morning skincare routine one day before my work actually started. “Make sure you do this once or twice a week. You are going to be driving around pollution all day long, and skincare can protect your skin.” My girlfriend Tina was a skincare enthusiast, she was into face toners, face serum for glowing skin, vitamin C skincare, blah blah blah, I have lost count of the skincare concepts she has explained to me. ‘Here, keep this with you,’ she handed over an exfoliating toner to me, “It’s a cucumber toner, it removes grime from the face and shields your skin from pollutants. And it’s like a spray, so you can use it to refresh your skin as well.” “I’m not going for a war Tina, it’s just a simple job,” I said to her, Clearly, she was more excited than me!
Unlike my other friends who pursued a programming internship during their summer break, I interned as a cab driver at my uncle’s cab agency. I can’t exactly call it an internship, it was more of an extra pocket money source. I had no interest in programming. I was just somehow making it to the 3rd year. I wanted to do business after finishing my education, probably, start my cab agency. Tina wanted to start her own skincare products after college, I might join her or something.
I didn’t mind working as a driver in my 4th-semester summer break; on the bright side, I was getting quite well paid to do something I was fine at; whereas most of my friends were pursuing unpaid internships.
First & Last Duty
My first assignment was to pick up 1 female and 1 male employee from Aarey colony and drop them off at Wipro, Hiranandani. “Bhai, tujhe pehele din he Aarey de diya?” My driver colleague Ramit said. “Do you actually believe those stories? Ye sab fake hai. These 2 employees travel daily from this route, and they have never reported anything weird.”
“Yeah but just be careful. And alert. Call me if anything goes wrong, that is if you get a chance.” Ramit said sarcastically. The reason I got this duty was because the driver who used to drop them fell sick and had stopped reporting to work for 2-3 days.
I arrived at Jubilee Wing at Royal Palms, Aarey Colony. Joshita Mehra, my passenger, boarded the car. She said that her colleague Anand took up the next shift and informed the agency. She confirmed the OTP, and we started driving towards Powai. The picturesque nature around this stretch was so good. This place must be looking even more beautiful in the morning; Tina and I could definitely chill here as we both enjoy nature, I thought to myself.
“What’s the ETA now?” Joshita asked. She seemed to have a singer’s voice; so clear and melodious. “20 minutes,” I said. “Is that a face toner for oily skin?” She asked. “Yeah, a cucumber toner; my girlfriend gifted me.” I said, quite proudly. “Do you mind if I use it?” Joshita asked. “Sure, as long as you don’t hit me with it.” We both shared a laugh as I passed her the toner.
Mukul, Calling
I heard my phone vibrating and connected with Mukul, my manager. “Hi Sir, tell me.” “Idiot, you screwed up on the 1st day itself?” I was quite startled at his words. Why would Mukul speak to me like that? Was there a hidden camera in the car through which he got to know that I interacted with a passenger, which is generally not encouraged at my workplace? “What happened?” I asked. “What happened?! Ruchita has been waiting for 25 minutes at Royal Palms. Why the hell have you not picked her up yet.”
“I think there’s some misunderstanding sir, Ruchita is with me, you can speak to her.” I passed my phone to her, “Hey, can you please speak with my manager Mukul?” I received no response from here. My throat went dry. I looked at the rearview mirror and then at the back of the car, and there was no-one. I kept hearing Mukul continue his rant, but I could not utter any words to respond to him. I continued my ride to Hiranandani and did not turn back. I called Mukul and told him that I wouldn’t be able to pick Ruchita up, to which he replied that Ruchita had canceled her ride and would be resuming an afternoon shift later today.
That was the last time I took the Aarey night shift. Obviously, I notified my colleagues about what happened, and no one believed me. While cleaning the car the next day, I found my best face toner for oily skin, and I kept it back in the drawer. Sometimes I wonder what was the intention of Ruchita’s impersonator, did she let me go because she saw how loyal and proud I was of my and Tina’s association? Or was it simply because she wanted to creep me out? Only God knows.
