Chapter 1: The Ride Begins

Nagpur, where the smell of oranges mixes with diesel at midnight, and a single cabbie’s WhatsApp video can shake up the whole city.

Under flickering streetlights and the sticky heat of a Vidarbha summer night, one ordinary cabbie’s bold move sent shockwaves through every auto stand and housing society WhatsApp group. He became the Sachin Tendulkar of Nagpur’s cab drivers overnight. Later, people would say, “Arrey, that fellow flew higher than the NMC Commissioner himself!”

And all of this began, quite unexpectedly, because he refused a passenger’s seemingly minor request. Who would’ve thought a single ‘no’ could stir up such a cyclone in the city of oranges?

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Cab drivers always have their share of difficult passengers; sometimes, it really isn’t the driver’s fault.

Ask any driver at the tea stall near the railway station—they’ll each have their own saga. In 2022, such a tale unfolded in Nagpur. A driver did everything he could to stop a passenger from dirtying his car—and nearly lost a year’s worth of work for his trouble. In Nagpur, it’s not just the potholes that give you a headache; sometimes, it’s the people too.

On June 11, the city centre of Nagpur was glowing with lights late into the night.

The air buzzed with distant honking, the thump of wedding drums echoing from a nearby marriage hall, and the familiar scent of roasting corn wafting through the lanes. Ramesh (a pseudonym), a cab driver who’d been working all day, was finally ready to call it a night. He wiped his forehead with the edge of his gamcha, glanced at the WhatsApp family group notification, and sighed. Just then, he received a new booking along his route.

Pickup: intersection of Sitabuldi Main Road and Shankar Nagar Square, Dharampeth. Destination: New Sunrise Residency, Ramnagar.

Ramesh hesitated for a moment, but accepted the ride.

He glanced at the time—11:30 PM. That restless, tired ache behind his knees reminded him that his wife would be waiting up, dinner plate kept covered with another plate, dal getting cold. He pictured his wife sitting cross-legged on the floor, dozing beside the TV, her dupatta pulled tight around her shoulders. Still, he couldn’t shake off a vague sense of unease.

Soon enough, Ramesh pulled up to the curb to pick up his last passenger of the night.

A large, slightly chubby man was waiting, his face flushed red, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with a childish cartoon pattern. He staggered as he opened the front passenger door.

There was something unmistakably familiar about the man’s gait—one too many pegs at the local bar, perhaps. As soon as the man got in, a strong stench of alcohol filled the car, making Ramesh wince.

The smell hit like a slap—raw, sharp, with a hint of cheap whisky. Ramesh immediately reached out and turned the AC vent away from his face, but it didn’t help much. Seeing how drunk the passenger was, Ramesh immediately understood the reason for his earlier uneasiness.

The pickup spot was near a cluster of bars. Picking up a passenger from there at midnight, the chances of encountering a drunk were high.

Any driver who’s done the late shift knows: after 11 PM, every second fare is a gamble. But as a seasoned driver, he stuck to his professional ethics.

He waited for the man to buckle his seatbelt, then, as usual, confirmed the ride details:

“Hello, is your phone number ending in xxxx, and are you headed to New Sunrise Residency?”

The passenger’s eyes were glassy, blinking slowly as if his mind had switched off.

Ramesh had to repeat himself several times before the man finally heard him, leaned in, glared, and grumbled with obvious reluctance:

“Yeah, you’ve been dragging this out long enough. Just drive already, stop talking so much.”

His tone was as sour as yesterday’s leftover rasam.

Ramesh’s fingers gripped the steering wheel, knuckles pale, as he remembered last month’s cleaning disaster after a similar passenger. He was annoyed, but as a professional, he kept his face neutral, swallowing his irritation.

He had no idea that this rude remark was just the beginning of a long night.

All Ramesh wanted was to finish this ride and go home. But even when you try to avoid trouble, sometimes trouble finds you.

In India, no matter how much you try to keep your head down, sometimes it’s as if fate itself wants to test your patience.