Yesterday, I missed the car pool as usual [ :) ] and was forced to take an auto from Forum to work. As we were waiting at a traffic light, a guy in a motorcycle came and stopped next to us and asked for directions to a bank. The auto driver said he didn’t know. Since I knew where the bank was I told the biker to turn right after the signal.
The traffic light turned green and to my irritation the auto driver took the left. I told him to turn back and the road was going in the other direction from my office. He didn’t stop, instead he turned around and told me that the guy who had asked for directions was following us right from the time I got into the auto. And the auto driver took the left turn so that he would not follow me till my office.
I was shocked. Of course this is a regular thing with some guys, but this was scary as the auto driver told me that he had seen the guy on the road where I was standing to take an auto. I thanked him profusely. He then took a small deviation and bought me to office. When I got down he advised me never to give directions to guys as some guys have this habit of chatting up girls in the guise of asking directions.
I was a little shaken in the office. Later it struck me that the auto driver had actually saved me a lot of trouble by taking that left turn.
Whenever you are, “God bless you!!!”.
23 comments:
Blogging from office, are we...
What kind of times we do live in that we are pleasantly surprised by the good guys! ;-)
I know of auto drivers who help old ladies out of their ruck, carry the luggage up stairs and do similar thinsg with a smile on their face...almost makes up for the 90% others who need to rip you off to send their kids to college!
And heroine of the bengalooru masses, us guys are jerks and are capable of doing crazy things esp if a decent looking womans is involved- so there...
Blogging from home :)
I have also seen them carrying bags for ladies. But this was a really nice thing to do and quick thinking too. He needn't have bothered.
The last line is interesting :)
man thats a bit worrying..i mean, say the auto driver was actually taking you to some place else..anyway..i am sure you are smart enough to handle any situation..but still..make sure you keep your eyes open for such nonsense.
hugs to this auto chap anyway.
you know, probably it was one of your blog fans stalking you :))
anyway, please know that the whole blog community is behind you :) any trouble, just sing "poomanam..."
And heroine of the bengalooru masses well begun GT :)
one last thing..do you live in Forum? :)
thats nice to read abt a good auto driver!!! maybe he doubles up as a police informer too...otherwise i wonder how else he wud notice the stalker rite from where u got in!!!
i second mindcurry...the stalker shud be one of ur blog-fans...hehe!!!
Not all auto suris' are bad after all...
There are quiet some gud guyz also... Sadly that make only a small percentage...
Lemme find out for myself this Friday evening!
Mind Curry: Thank you doc :) It was a main road so I wasn't too worried about the wrong turn.
you know, probably it was one of your blog fans stalking you
lol
And heroine of the bengalooru masses well begun GT So you don't subscribe to the latter half of the comment? :))
If I am going to hum 'poomanam' when I am in distress, you know where I will land up straitjacketed? LOL :)
Jiby: You could be right!!! It was very thoughtful of him to do what he did!
Koutilya:I don't think you will be complaining too much if it is a female stalker :) But then if it was a male, we may get another comment here very soon :))
You sound like me, trusting to a fault sometimes. Thinking you were being helpful giving directions only to find out your potential helpfullness could have caused you harm.
Glad it turned out okay thanks to the fast thinking of your driver. It is my guess that your auto drivers equal our taxi drivers, and from what I hear and read theirs is an occupation that pretty much sees the good the bad and the ugly in the course of a normal day. It is good to know that not all of them become tainted by what they see and continue to be helpful to others.
my goodness.. tht is really sick... stalking..Thank God, you the rick wala had common sense!!
Now this is has been bugging me for a while.. ur blog Id.. Poomanam..everytime I read it, I think.. is it poo..manam which would mean, fragrant flower..or is it poomanam.. which I think is sky in malayalam.. there used to be a mallu song starting poomanam..
Hey ,, nice autowala .. But I tht this happened only in cal.. people are so protective and helpful here .. I neevr feel threatened ..I have even got eveteasers beaten up by the helpful junta around as that is something I detest ..
Well whatever the situation my advice girl ..never get scared ..sock it back ..such people are cowards at the core and hittin abck works almost all times ( but one has to take the judgement pruently..sometimes its better to ignore!!)
interesting ...yeah..usual modest me assuming responsibility for my weird and mortal male brothers...
And MC-thanks! ;-)
MC wuz here at 6:05am. Good night now :)
*inches closer to downunder*
yo.. u got me wrong there gurl...
auto suris' r the auto drivers n not the stalkers!
But I gal, this might be weired, Ive' seen a first hand experience of a male stalker, the victim was my flatmate....it was scary & funny.... some Bobby Darlings' Colonial Cousin(BDCC) and hell what the heck, whats this world coming to?
I mean.. the stalker was some BDCC, who gave a tough time to my flat mate...
Patty: Thank you, nice to see you and Ben here. Auto's are like your taxi's and what you say is right. They carry all sorts of people and are therefore exposed to many things.
Sarah: It is not stalking I think, as GT explained just a guy following a gal, happens quite often in India and is mostly harmless. Poomanam is the word that came to my mind when I had to name my blog.It means spring sky ..I didn't want the usual names like 'hell-reaper' and 'rant-zone' that people like to name their blogs :)) And I love that song!!
Shruti: Cal is paradise. Period. Cal people are the best and this is a city I luvvvv with all my heart. In my first job I had to fly to Cal almost every week and I loved coming there and roaming free :) If I had to give a tagline to Cal it will be "Roam free" :)
GT: How sweet :)
(what the heck are you doing at 1 am?!?!??!)
MC: Thank you and sweet dreams :)
( tsk tsk The rigours of being married to Batwoman!!!! :p)
Koutilya: lol I got you right, was just pulling your leg :) I don't think this guy was a stalker just one of those things guys do. But what you have mentioned is scary :(
hey sweetie ...I love u for calling cal a paradise .. I have seen people including colleagues ..crib and crib and cirb abt cal ..how tis not happening , laid back etc etc ( delhi ugh !! and bombay are the barometers ) ..btu sincerely girl ..my heart belongs here ,.,this is home for me ..Living totally alone as I am this place still rocks ..those old walks ...the lake near my hosue ..the early morning breeze ,,everything is live ..especially the total lack of superficiality and deep roots into culture ..the ADas..the hot debates of yesetryears ..the inteligent conversations will remain etched in memory forver ...
Shruti: As a gal I can feel the 'safety' in the air..and Cal is where you feel safe, where the men have the balls to beat up anyone messing with a lady. I tell you the Cal men rock!!!
All the time we bangaloreans curse abt the autowallahs their behaviour odd hours, some one comes up shows up the courtesy to save a girl from a trouble. However bad the world is a few good men still exist.
Forum - Hmmm So you wander around my constituency.
Dhanush: Yes, a few good men always give hope that all is not lost. I do wander around in your constituency from time to time :)
Did you note down the auto wallah's number? I guess a lot of us can call him up and give some extra rides. Very difficult to see someone like that here in Bangalore.
And how do u manage to go from Forum everyday...Man - that place is suffocating now! Sigh!
tht bike guy must hav been really jobless ..bcos he followed u of all the ppl :-)) ..waste of time na.
neways,how can u be so sure that the auto driver was not taking u for a ride ? and wht if the guy was really looking for directions ? and if the guy really wanted to talk to u , he cud hav just followed the auto , thus he cud hav known ur office . he cud hav come ther the next day and waited for a chance to talk to u.
And after getting the directions , did he still follow u or went towards the bank ?
Ewww some guys are really nuts, its good that you were saved from a possible stalker :)
And I loved that heroine if the bengalooru masses
Very nice to read something positive about an auto guy. They are a much cursed lot! There have also been cases of these guys returning suitcases etc. A relative of mine here was a beneficiary recently.
Stalking is a major issue. More so, with ladies and girls. There have also been unsavoury incidents associated with stalking. I think it was tennis star Mary Pierce who was stabbed by a stalker. Scary...
Many people -- men included -- have told me stories of stalking. An ex-colleague of mine, for example, told me a terrifying story of how he was being stalked one particular day... and the next day he was waylaid and robbed. He is sure the two were related.
In fact often after burglary or robbery victims recall incidents of stalking.
Though he told me to be careful and see if anyone is keeping tabs on me... I haven't tried to see who is following me and for how long. I think I must...
Your post also led to me think of a situation... where I could be on the other side... wherein, if my auto or bike or car happens to be following another vehicle for some good distance in this mad traffic... would that amount to stalking?
Because I was just wondering, if in case, I am unable to overtake a vehicle (even an auto) for quite sometime... to avoid any misunderstanding... would it be wise on my part to slow down or even stop for a while so that the vehicle in front moves quite far ahead...?
My worry is that.... I don't overtake rashly. I don't unnecessarily honk forcing the vehicle in front to let me speed ahead.
When the rules of the road are definitely not civil, we are often confused as to how our civility itself is perceived.
Because of this scare about stalking, just as I am suspicious of people following me, I was wondering if others could also be suspicious about me... We all could be on either of the two sides, is it not?
Or, am I getting paranoid...? Worried about someone following me, and worried about someone else thinking that I am following them...?
Pophabhi: No I didn't, was too shaken :( But what you suggest is so sweet :)
Jagan: Waste of time? Dunno ask him :p
Kusum: naah, just some kiddo I guess. Guys do this all the time :)
Pradeep: What you say makes a lot of sense. In slow moving traffic you could be misunderstood for tracking, but then your body language also matters. Apparently the auto driver had made some twists and turns and the biker had followed suit. Which confirmed to him that he was following us.
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