You know, I was mugged in Mumbai?All my life, I have been shouting from rooftops that Mumbai is the safest city in India. So it was quite an embarrassment for me.
The story goes that the guy gets down at the domestic airport, doesnt take the pre-paid cab, gets into one random cab. The cab driver tells him it will take 45 minutes to reach the international airport (?? The distance is around 15 mins). Then in one alley, he stops the cab and asks this guy to pay up Rs.2500. When our guy says he doesnt have this kind of money they ask him to pay up in dollars (HAHA). And even the inside locks are disabled. Our guy throws the notes on the cab driver's face who is distracted by this. Our guy then pulls down the window, reaches for the handle on the outside and escapes.
Now, the twist. It seems there were 2 guys in the cab. WHY? I mean why would you ever sit in a cab which already has an extra person? Doesnt it smell fishy from the word go? Infact, when I came to Bangalore for the first time, even I took a regular cab. After I sat in the cab another guy came and sat with the driver. I opened the door and told him in no uncertain terms that there can be only one person (other than the driver) in this cab. The extra guy got out. Smart eh?
Reminds me, this was one of the earliest lessons that my mom taught us and drilled it into our heads. Wondering if it really saved me from mugging that day and wondering whether I would have behaved in the same way if this was not there in the back of my head.
2 comments:
Does it really matter one or two persons in the cab if the driver wants to rob the passenger?.
I think it is common for Auto/Taxi drivers in Mumbai/Hyd to cheat foreign city passengers. Better to know approx time/cost beforehand or have a friend to pick you up.
can one incident make or break the 'safest city' tag? ... i wonder though... and btw welcome back dolphin!
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