AS IT HAPPENED

There was only one man in the lift as I entered it while answering a phone call. I punched floor 4 as I said into the phone “I’m going to Reed City tomorrow to give the car to my dad.” The lift stopped at 4 and both of us got off. The man said “I heard you saying  you’ re going to Reed City. I’m Philip and am an electrician for a firm in Reed. May I go with you?”

I was totally surprised at the request. I saw Philip was fair and tall but was partially bald and with a small moustache. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt over grey pants. Philip said “It is not that I lack money to travel by alternate transport. I don’t know what prompted me to seek to travel with you I will give you half the cost of fuel for the journey.”

I thought for a moment and said “Okay you can join me.” I gave him my card and said “I run a start up. Be at my place at 9 AM tomorrow. We can travel together.”

Next day Philip was at my place at 8-30 carrying a small bag. I offered him a cup of coffee which he turned down saying “I don’t drink more than a cup in the mornings and I’ve had it.”

My house was a one room tenement due to financial stringency and I gave Philip a chair on which he sat. He showed no curiosity about my flat or belongings. At 9 we went to the car and I said “Put your bag in the rear seat and sit beside me.” It was more out of fear of being mugged by the stranger and I carried little cash in my pocket!

I drove silently for half an hour when I asked “Where will you stay in Reed?”

“With a colleague in a room we share. But I’m likely to quit as I’ve ideas of doing business on my own.”

After a while I stopped at a coffee shop and again Philip refused the drink. When I started again Philip said “I’ve a driving license. When you’re tired I can take over driving. I was a bus driver once.”

“How old are you?”

“I’ve crossed 28.”

I asked “Why did you give up driving?”

He showed me his left arm and said “You can see it is damaged. It is an interesting story: I was driving the bus high up in the hills when two ruffians on the bus stopped it to kidnap a merchant who was on board to seek a ransom. I acted as though I was in collusion with them and disabled one of them. The other fellow took his vengeance by fracturing my left arm. It hurt a lot and took months to heal. I gave up driving.”

I was silent. He said “Don’t think I’m a braggart. I’m not. I had wanted to join the army and was selected. But my elders advised me not to join. Instead I joined a skill enhancement course to become a better electrician. I stood first in a class of 18 due to my innovative capability. I had plans to start on my own but had no capital and so joined this firm as electrician.”

I stopped for lunch. Philip again declined to join. When I was back after lunch I saw Philip had a variety of cut fruits on a plastic tray on his lap. He said “Share these fruits with me.”

The fruit was delicious and I had my fill. I said “You wouldn’t take coffee or lunch with me. But I’ve eaten your fruit.”

He laughed and said “When I came to your house this morning I had had a sumptuous breakfast and so had no desire to eat lunch. I’m glad you had the fruit with me.”

I said “Now you drive.”

I saw Philip was a very skilled driver who cruised cautiously on the highway. After we had gone some distance I saw a truck blocking our way. Philip horned but the truck wouldn’t let us pass. Philip raced and went ahead blocking the truck and parked. The truck driver used bad language against Philip. Philip dragged out the truck driver. There was a hot exchange of bad words and in the end Philip   hit the trucker hard. An assistant of his came down and both of them tried to jointly attack Philip. As he hit them hard he said “I’m, calling the police. Let them search your truck.”

The duo retreated and got onto the truck.

As Philip again started the car and went ahead he said “I know those truckers smuggle a lot of items including dead bodies. The moment you say you will call the police they will pipe down. The rascals have to be disciplined.”

As he drove on Philip said “After giving up bus driving I had been the driver of a car owned by a top officer of the government. I lived in his premises eating and sleeping there. The mafia were active there and used to bill large sums of money for moving truckloads of mined material. My boss worked out the number of trips possible in a day between mine head and the goods terminal of the railways. Say it was 12. The mafia would claim money for 24 trips. He threatened to expose what was going on. Late the same night the mafia came rang his bell and merely said “We’ve used your garage for the present.” Boss and me went and saw 2 mutilated bodies in the garage. However by morning the bodies had been removed! The message to the boss was to keep his calculations to himself. Boss sought a transfer and was shifted. I heard the mafia continued false claims. In such cases abundant caution is necessary.”

I found Philip had a lot of experiences to relate which were diverting:  He told me about a ‘witch’s’ spell in the 21^St century while he was a bus driver! “A woman of a hill tribe was seeking to take vengeance against her husband who was straying . He would often travel by bus to visit his paramour. The wife got a ‘witch’ to cast a spell over the husband so that he would be hurt in a road accident. After a time when it didn’t happen the wife attacked the ‘witch’ on my bus tearing her clothes. Fortunately there were other women who intervened and saved the ‘witch’ from going totally nude.”

Our trip ended. In Reed City Philip tried to give me money for the fuel used but I turned it down. I said “Give me your bio-data. I could use you in my start up.”

Philip joined my company as my partner. Our business is doing well.

END