I started working as a Tuk-Tuk driver when I was 22. My family background was not that good and my father used to sell papad and fruits on the streets. Therefore life for me since the very beginning was hard-bitten and in order to enjoy a better living I started working as a tuk-tuk driver.
It was in 1984, when I first started working and picked locals and dropped them at their destinations. Being a 12th pass out I was familiar with English and was pretty good at it and as a local resident of Jaipur I knew the city a little better than most of the tuk-tuk drivers. Even today I am not sure if it was a coincidence or a twist of fate that I met one of my first foreigner good friend named Patricia. She wanted to be at a shop which was a bit far on the way so we got to talking and I told her many things about the city’s culture, traditions and monuments. She kept asking questions about Jaipur and I answered them one by one. It felt like an interview which concluded very well and she was pretty impressed by the service and my knowledge about Indian culture and traditions.
It was 1987 then and I had no cell phone so she gave me her business card and helped me in coming to the industry by promoting my services to all her friends. Little by little I had a chain of my own. I never thought about life that deeply or what can we do to make it better I always tried to go with the flow. Even after these many years not a single customer can say Ram cheated on me.
I am always loyal to my customers and all the people who approached me for help. According to me time flies sooner than you can imagine, it feels like yesterday when I joined this work but now as I think about it life passed like a blink of an eye and in that blink I have made many great friends who never travel the city without me. Till date I have never fallen out of customers but as the pace of technology is increasing within clicks drivers like me who work for the interest of customers are disappearing and the ones who promote their work online tend to get work easily. But it’s my sincere advice to all the tourist that please choose the drivers carefully, look out for your interests and enjoy the scenic beauty of our city. I guarantee that you’ll never be able to grasp the culture of this city in one go and eventually your heart will say let’s go to Jaipur again.
