I am not much of a talker, but whenever I travel by a Bus or a Taxi I respond to whoever asking me questions because I do not want to be rude.
Last week I had to travel from Wangdue to Thimphu by a taxi. My uncle drove me till the taxi parking in the Bajo town and even before stopping a few drivers started shouting names of places they were traveling. A young taxi driver shouted Thimphu, Thimphu and my uncle responded yes one passenger for Thimphu. I was the first passenger so we had to wait for 30 minutes before we had three other passengers.
It was interesting that all the passages (four of us) were women. One was coming to Thimphu for the first time, one was going to renew her trade license and was planning to travel back to Wangdue the same day and the other one, I think lives in Thimphu.
As I was the first passenger, I had the privilege of taking the front seat. It was like I was sitting on a hot seat, as the driver kept shooting questions at me.
Driver: Are you a student?
Me: No ( smiling within thinking, do I look so young?)
Driver: Do you work?
Me: Yes
Driver: Where?
Me: NGO
Driver:WHat is your qualification?
Me: 15
Driver: Ohh! A graduate?
Me: Yes
Driver: Every person I run into seems to be a graduate these days
Me: True, because it is so difficult to get a job
Driver: Where do you stay?
Me: Near the town ( thinking, how his question changed all of a sudden)
Driver: have a family?
Me: Live with my parents
Driver: How come the three ladies at the back are very quite? He looks back but the three women just sit quietly.
He then gets a phone call from someone who is asking the price of his taxi. I become curious and then I start shooting questions at him
Me: Are you selling this vehicle?
Driver: Yes
Me: How Much?
Driver: Nu 360000
Me: How old is your car?
Driver: Two years
Driver: Do you think its in a good conduction?
Me: I have not much ideas about vehicles..
Then we talk about cars and brands and suddenly, we speak of monthly incomes. I have no idea how our conversation reached there but this is what I vaguely recollect.
Me: I heard Taxi Drivers earn a lot
Driver: No, its just around Nu 30,000 to 40,000 on an average
Me: That is higher than what most civil servants earn
Driver: Is that Much, I earned Nu 90,000 one time
Me: No wonder, taxi drivers keep on changing their vehicles
Driver: This however, depends on the drivers. There are some married taxi drivers who say they are going to find passengers from home but hardly work. They have affairs so keep roaming. There are also some who play snooker the whole day and some who spend most of their money on girls.Some who spend huge amounts on the phones. One has to be very hard working. If a taxi driver says he does not have much income, it means he is doing either of these.
Me: Ohh! really
Driver: I even know a doctor in Thimphu who drives a taxi just for fun. He does this so that he has a reason to come out of the house and keep roaming till late hours.
He then started talking about the kidnapping cases in Gelephu and then about politics. Then both of us become quite till we reach Semotkha. He then starts asking where each one of us want to be dropped, but he also mentions he is just making one stop. So all of us said Taxi parking.
When I recollect today, it was a conservation all mixed up :)
Last week I had to travel from Wangdue to Thimphu by a taxi. My uncle drove me till the taxi parking in the Bajo town and even before stopping a few drivers started shouting names of places they were traveling. A young taxi driver shouted Thimphu, Thimphu and my uncle responded yes one passenger for Thimphu. I was the first passenger so we had to wait for 30 minutes before we had three other passengers.
It was interesting that all the passages (four of us) were women. One was coming to Thimphu for the first time, one was going to renew her trade license and was planning to travel back to Wangdue the same day and the other one, I think lives in Thimphu.
As I was the first passenger, I had the privilege of taking the front seat. It was like I was sitting on a hot seat, as the driver kept shooting questions at me.
Driver: Are you a student?
Me: No ( smiling within thinking, do I look so young?)
Driver: Do you work?
Me: Yes
Driver: Where?
Me: NGO
Driver:WHat is your qualification?
Me: 15
Driver: Ohh! A graduate?
Me: Yes
Driver: Every person I run into seems to be a graduate these days
Me: True, because it is so difficult to get a job
Driver: Where do you stay?
Me: Near the town ( thinking, how his question changed all of a sudden)
Driver: have a family?
Me: Live with my parents
Driver: How come the three ladies at the back are very quite? He looks back but the three women just sit quietly.
He then gets a phone call from someone who is asking the price of his taxi. I become curious and then I start shooting questions at him
Me: Are you selling this vehicle?
Driver: Yes
Me: How Much?
Driver: Nu 360000
Me: How old is your car?
Driver: Two years
Driver: Do you think its in a good conduction?
Me: I have not much ideas about vehicles..
Then we talk about cars and brands and suddenly, we speak of monthly incomes. I have no idea how our conversation reached there but this is what I vaguely recollect.
Me: I heard Taxi Drivers earn a lot
Driver: No, its just around Nu 30,000 to 40,000 on an average
Me: That is higher than what most civil servants earn
Driver: Is that Much, I earned Nu 90,000 one time
Me: No wonder, taxi drivers keep on changing their vehicles
Driver: This however, depends on the drivers. There are some married taxi drivers who say they are going to find passengers from home but hardly work. They have affairs so keep roaming. There are also some who play snooker the whole day and some who spend most of their money on girls.Some who spend huge amounts on the phones. One has to be very hard working. If a taxi driver says he does not have much income, it means he is doing either of these.
Me: Ohh! really
Driver: I even know a doctor in Thimphu who drives a taxi just for fun. He does this so that he has a reason to come out of the house and keep roaming till late hours.
He then started talking about the kidnapping cases in Gelephu and then about politics. Then both of us become quite till we reach Semotkha. He then starts asking where each one of us want to be dropped, but he also mentions he is just making one stop. So all of us said Taxi parking.
When I recollect today, it was a conservation all mixed up :)
