1 re...

wel, i keep on reading in newspapers, blog sites etc. about the auto drivers in Bangalore, charging extra or having faulty meters. i have myself fought with them 'n' no of times for charging extra. i always think that we shud have more stringent laws to deal with them. But recently when i hired an auto, i had to pay min charges for a distance which was less than 2kms. I gave 50 rs note to the auto guy and he gave me back 35rs . i asked for 1 re extra, and i was sure that he will be giving me regular excuse of not having 'chillar'. the auto guy (probably for the first time in b'lore) asked me if 1re was going to make any difference to me. i answered that, i would not like to waste even 1 re of my hard earned money. we were standing outside restaurant called 'Barbecue Nation'. The auto guy had a look at the restaurant building and said, "aaghar aapko aapne paise ki itni hi zaroorat hai toh aap is hotel mein 30 rupiyee ke roti kharid kaar, us par waiter ko 10 rupiyee ki tip nahi dete" (if u really cared about your hard earned money, u would never shell out 30rs for single bread and then pay 10rs as tip to waiter for it).. with this he took out 2rs coin from his pocket and gave it to me. i had no option but to take it... my frnds were behind me asking me to hurry up, as we had already booked the table and we were getting late. i was quick to join them, but what auto guy had just told me, made me think about his words for rest of the evening. We got a bill of around 1500 for 6 guys on which we paid a tip of around 150rs. probably a tip of 151 rs would have also been fine and we wouldn't have bothered about it. but an extra rupee with the auto guy, would have made a CONSIDERABLE diff to me, as ' Idont want to waste my hard earned money'.... i wasn't sure what should i conclude from the incident of that day, but some conclusion had to be made. when i narrated this incident to one of my frnds, he said, "we slog in our work place to spend money on our life style, on our pleasures and not for auto guys".. i didnt react to his stmnt but i was sure that i wasn't convinced by what he said...