Twenty Twenty Four!🚗
“Your cab is 9 minutes away.” — As I checked the pop-up notification from Uber, I felt a sense of relief. Okay, now I can go home.
It was an interesting day, filled with surprises, especially after I got to execute the first workshop under the banner of my newly started startup, Educerelator! (PR is essential for a founder, you see!)
Then, I got a call from the cab driver. Most of the time, it’s the driver asking where you’re headed, followed by a little bargaining for an additional INR 20–50 for the ride.
But this time, it was different. As I took the call, the driver surprised me with what he said:
“Saar! Naan Chennai-kku pudhusu — intha map epdi paakurathu nu lam enaku therila. Neenga enga varanum nu sonna naan varuven.”
(Sir! I’m new to Chennai, and I don’t know how to navigate using this map. If you guide me, I’ll follow your instructions.)
For a moment, I was surprised. He was about 4–5 km away from my location.
“Anna! Neenga thana map paakanum. Naan epdi na ungaluku help pandrathu.”
(Brother! You’re supposed to look at the map and come. How can I help you with that?)
I replied back to him. Then, suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind. I realized I had access to the driver’s route on my app — it looked like he genuinely didn’t know how to navigate using the map. Let me help him.
So, I told him:
“Seri, okay. Naan help pandren. Neenga apdiye right edunga.”
(Alright, I’ll help you. Just take the right turn as I guide you.)
For the next five minutes, I was glued to the map, instructing him to take turns, all while keeping my phone on speaker mode.
It was quite funny — I was standing right outside a busy café, surrounded by people rushing around and chatting away.
As I guided him to cross a bridge and take a right turn, another situation popped up. A Royal Enfield bike was blocking the pavement. A garbage cleaner ‘anna’ (brother) was trying to push his garbage trolley past it and needed my help.
I quickly told the driver, “Just hold on for a bit,” stuffed my phone into my pocket, and moved the bike slightly to clear the path.
By the time I retrieved my phone, the driver had crossed not one, but two bridges! (Yes, Chennai has a lot of bridges 😄)
I exclaimed, “Anna! Romba thooram thaandi poiteenga. Apdiye varra immediate right edunga.”
(Brother! You’ve gone too far. Just take the immediate right turn now.)
After another ten minutes of guidance, he finally arrived at my location, and I felt a huge sense of relief. Now, I could go home.
The car was spotless, almost as if someone had bought it that very day!
The driver shared, “Neenga than ennoda second Uber rider.”
(You are only my second Uber rider.)
I was genuinely surprised and asked, “Oh. Unga first customer ungaluku intha maari route lam sonnangala?”
(Oh. Did your first customer also guide you with routes like this?)
He nodded and admitted his challenges with Google Map navigation.
As he started driving, I began to understand the genuine difficulties of navigating Chennai’s complex roads.
On main roads, there are lane breakers even for one-way lanes, anticipating vehicles might veer into other lanes for turns. The driver ‘anna’ wasn’t familiar with this pattern and kept asking me which lane to take.
At one point, I said, “Go in whatever lane you want. Once you see a potential right or left turn, there’s always scope to switch.”
But every now and then, he’d ask me again, “Namma correct ah nu route la than poroma?”
(Are we on the correct route?)
I reassured him, “Yes,” every single time. But after he asked me the same question three or four times, I decided to respond differently:
“En namma correct ah na route la than eppovume ponuma? Thappa oru left or right edutha — namma thideernu Chennai la irundhu Bengaluruku poiduvoma? Anyway thirumba vandhukkalam.”
(Why should we always travel on the correct route? If we take a wrong turn by mistake, are we going to end up in Bengaluru instead of Chennai? If it is a little wrong turn, we can always come back!)
I also told him.
“Ippo namma correct ah na route laye poyi oru accident ayiduchu nu vainga. Athuku namma, suthi suthi prachana illama pona, nallathu thana? Eppovume, namma porathu than correct route’u. Jolly ah ponga.”
(Let’s say we only go on the right route, and end up in an accident, what do we do? Even if there’s a small hiccup, isn’t it better to navigate calmly and go with a little bit of mistakes. Remember, whatever route we are going, that’s the correct route. Let’s enjoy the journey happily.)
He smiled, nodded, and confidently drove forward.
To our surprise, just as I had said, there was a ‘Take Diversion’ sign ahead, forcing us to follow an entirely different route.
During the trip, I gave him a few Uber driving tips I’d observed from other drivers — like picking up rides close to the current drop-off point and having Google Pay stickers prominently displayed for easy payments.
As we concluded, the driver thanked me warmly and said a heartfelt ‘Goodbye!’ He looked confident, ready to take on the roads of Chennai and the Google Maps.
As I walked back home, I told myself the same thing I had told him:
“Namma entha route la poromo athu than correct ah na route! Jolly ah povom.”
(Remember, whatever route we are going, that’s the correct route. Let’s enjoy the journey happily.)
Thank you for reading! Happy 2025, folks. 😊
