Jitu , the HERO

This is the story of our Cab Driver Jitu who made our recent vacation so beautiful and memorable!  Please read it for yourself and see ….

In December 2017 , when we were deciding to go for our vacation , my daughter wanted a place which would have snow fall and peak winter , things which we cannot imagine in Chennai . Based on this , I did quick google search and the place that I came across as very gorgeous one was Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh . The beautiful snow fall images of this amazing place made me decide in no time to go for this place with family .

With my travel experience of 15 years I created a quick itinerary . Dalhousie is 80 KM from Pathankot and so I hired an Innova from Pathankot to use for all the 4 days of our trip .

I enjoy meeting new people and love speaking to them and getting to know about their family and life . Making new friends gives me immense pleasure irrespective of their financial status. Being well versed in Hindi comes across as a ready tool to connect with Hindi speaking people.

The Cab driver Jitu picked us promptly from Pathankot and our journey to Dalhousie started . The duration of our road journey was for 3 hours .  I got engaged into conversation with Jitu .  Jitu narrated us about his family . After the death of his father when he was young , Jitu took the responsibility of his family on his shoulders. Got his two sisters married to decent families due to which he had to get married quite late in Life . His wife comes from a poor family but very responsible and matured .

Jitu explained that his day starts by taking the blessings of his mother . Whatever small money he earns , he gives it all to his mother for which his wife is equally very supportive . Jitu remains on travel for almost 20 days in a month working hard to support his family . In his absence , his wife takes care of his old age mother and old age uncle at home.

Jitu loves his wife and I witnessed him speaking to her in a very caring manner on phone . In hindi , he would pick the call and say “ Boliye Madam ji , Kaise Yaad kiya ?, Kaise aaap ki khidmar karoon ? “  (Yes Madam , how did you remember me now ? What can I do for you ?) . Since I had told Jitu not to speak while driving , Jitu would take my permission to stop his cab whenever there was a call from his beloved wife.

I was so impressed with the value system of Jitu , with the kind of human being he was , playing the roles of Son & Husband .

The one thing which really touched my heart was his ability to remain happy all the times despite low income , working hard , being away from family and sleeping in cab most of the times . Wow !!!

After knowing about such a wonderful person during our 3 hour drive to Dalhousie , I never treated Jitu as a cab driver but more like a friend . We had food together and spent our time together visiting interesting places in Dalhousie .

On our return journey , we were going to Jalandar via Pathankot ,Jitu’s hometown . Jitu asked me if he could stop his cab in his house to take dresses for his next one week trip to Amritsar . I happily agreed.

The Cab stopped outside his house in a small suburb village . He asked if we would also come to his small house . I immediately asked my wife and daughter to join me in visiting Jitu’s family . Jitu’s mother and wife were so happy to see us . Their hospitality was super ! His wife was a simple Punjabi wife with happy face . 

During the 30 minute of our conversation in their house , I once again saw how happy this family was ! The house was small , but their heart was PURE and BIG . We took the blessings of his mother and old age Uncle . While leaving his house , his mother offered me to stay in their house for sure next time . While leaving their house , his wife became emotional as we had entered a Driver’s house . I said for me it really does not matter what position a person carries , what matters is the type of person I am interacting with . I told her that she is really lucky to have an Husband like Jitu . Having gone for the first time to their house , I gave some cash to Jitu which he immediately offered to his Mother , a typical example of his culture ! We left his house carrying some beautiful memories of these wonderful people .

After returning to Chennai , I got a call from Jitu on 1^st January giving his New Year wishes to our family. He said that he found a brother in me . I said I also felt exactly the same and wished him the very best . I advised him to preserve his biggest strength of being happy at all times.

Few things I learnt from this trip :

·      Money cannot buy Happiness .

·      How beautiful life can become if we decide to stay happy .

·      If a Cab Driver with meagre income can stay happy all the times , why not we ?

·      It is the people that make a place interesting and memorable more than the place .