..Please skip this if you are not a gulte (telugu)
That day, it was raining outside, there were an old couple who were getting out of a store. The lady was evidently not able to walk freely, she must be going through lot of pain in her legs, she is slowly coming out of the shop, though holding an umbrella in one hand as walking itself was so much stress, her focus was not on it and she was getting wet anyway. She came out looking for an auto...husband was possibly still in the store, he must be concluding the sale...He appears in a few moments, he is carrying a tricycle, you know these tricycles especially one for small children are set of pipes fixed into a awkward bulky shape, though not very heavy, makes it difficult to carry...Well, he was walking, almost hopping, because he wanted to avoid slipping in the rain as well as he wanted to catchup with his wife.
Now this wife and husband are standing next to a street, looking for a auto..."Auto, Auto...ikkada" old man shouts for a passing auto, that one occupied and zipped past without stopping..."Nenu cheppina, nuwwu enduku ee wanalo rawatam, nene poyi konukkoni wastha kada ani...kaani cheppina maata nuwwu ekkada intawu, ippudu chudu, vaana lo..." husband is exhibiting anger on his wife, but it was more driven from concern..."emi, emantunnaru...e sabdala lo emi inapadadu"...not sure if the husband heard that reply either....
"Auto" ...calling for one more auto...the auto slows down and "kidhar jana""..."Tarnaka..., wasthawa..." The auto just departs, no answers, no reasons given..."hmm! ee auto wallaki chaala poguru, walla intiiki poye towalo unte ne passenger ni ekkichkuntaru"...five minutes passes in a similar way...they are almost wet already! "10 ghantalouthondhi...mari poddhunni airport ki kuda wellala, ee auto eppudu dorukuthundo..." worried wife says...
there is a taxi, dropping some passengers where they were standing..."aa taxi ni adagandi, wasthademo" says wife..."taxi waadu, chaala aduguthaadu, neeku eepudu edhi ekkuwa costly untundo ade ishtam!" husband says irritatingly...after a few moments, when the taxi was reversing, possibly because he was concerned that his wife was getting wet in the rain and all that inconvenience...old man walks to the taxi hurriedly to catch him before he left "taxi, taxi" car stops and the driver lowered the window to listen to the husband..."Tarnaka...wasthawa...?" Taxi driver thinks for a while and " wastha, akkada ekkada"...they further talk about location and husband says "meter meeda iythe ne, nahi toh hum nahi aathe...". Possibly taxi driver had to go that way only....he agreed.
Husband loads the tricycle in the back seat next to his wife and he himself seats next to the driver, you see a person who doesnt travel by car so much, wants to sit in the front seat of the car...maybe he will think he is almost driving the car, its a man's thing!!...
husband and wife were relieved...husband, looking at driver - "yeh barish, pareshan ho gaye bhai", "hmm..." driver doesn't talk much
"cyclu, bommalu, entha baagha unnayo...edi idawabuddi kaaledhu..."
"neeku ekkadaa leni utsaham...paapodu americalo chudani, adani bommala..." replies husband...
taxi, continuous to go further...
"awunu...podduna airport ki car mataladera", "ledu, rendu saarlu phone chesina ewaru ettha ledu, ippudu poyi malli chestha", "ayyo, letayi poyindhi kadandi...ardha raatri rendu ghanatalaku waadu wastado ledo...", "sare, sare...ippudu pothune chestha...nuwwu nannu urke satayinchodu"
taxi journey continuous...
in the dim light from the street lights, the husband sees that there is "vaasu" painted on the windshield...he looks at the driver and proudly says - "vaasu, maa manamani peru, repu maa koduku, kodalu, manamadu wasthunaaru, poddunna 4 ghanatalaku flight...america nunchi", ..."mubarak ho peddayana"
..."next right chodke, daani next chowrastha lo right turn tisuko"...thats how we give directions in India..."hm, hm...idhar nahi next..."
"bas, bas...ikkade, aa inti mundara nilupu..."
husband and wife exit the car...take the tricycle out...bending towards the driver - "meter entha iyyindhi", "90 saab"..., husband is putting his hand in the pocket...takes money out...counting the money...they realize, it is only 85 rupees..." yeme...nedeggara 5 rupayilu unnaya" husband asks wife, "ledhu, nenu purse kuda teledhu"..."sare, undu babu...nenu intlo poyi testha...", "ikkada e peddayana, 5 rupay ke liye endhuku pareshan awutawu..."
"shukriya", he gave the money and they both walked away from the car into their home...
husband and wife come home, it is already 1030...wife says, she is tired and will lie down!
"naaku assalu emi aakali ledhu, raatri niddara kuda sarigga undadhu, nenu alage padukunesthanu...meeru podduna chesina annam, pappu undhi tineyandi"
husband is already busy - "hello, hello...khasim unnara"...he is calling the car fellow..."ekkada poyinaaru...maaku car kaawala ani rendu rojula krindate chepemu kadha, ippudu meeru emi cheppaka pothe maaku entha kashtam", " sare wasthune phone cheyamani cheppandi", "mee peru emi, abbas?, sare"
"emanta, e car wallanu assalu nammete ledhu...ippudemi chesedhi" realizing the contents of phone conversation wife says from her sleeping position itself...
"call cab wallaki phone cheyandi...", "naaku chaalayipoyindhi, nenu ewariki phone cheselledhu, nee ishtam nuwwe chesuko"
"hello, maaku taxi kaawalandi"...wife had got up and picked the number from the newspaper and called the city cab..."repu podduna rendu ghantalaku...", "emi, endhuku"...she disconnected the phone...
city cab wallaku carlu freega lewanta, 5 ghantalakithe wastharanta..."
"eppudu ee car la godawa ne..."
"nuwwu addam kaawe, emite adhi awutundhi...edi dorakaka pothe...oka auto thisukoni podhamu..."
"sare...meeru bhojanam cheseyandi", "nenu emo chestha le, nuwwu koncham rest thisuko"...he says this and relaxes on the sofa...
both of them were fast asleep in the next few minutes, husband sitting on sofa itself and wife on the diwan...they must have been tried, stressed and excited.
When the husband woke up, lights were all on, he hurriedly looked at the wall clock, it showed - 130..."yeme, leyi...time iyyindhi"..."ayyo...entha niddara wachesindhi"..."sare, sare, nuwwu ready kaa...nenu kuda ready i-tha, podhamu..." husband, made a last try call to khasim...no response...
"nuwwu baagha sweater wesuko, muffler kuda kattuko, mari chawu noppi adi wasthe kashtam...", "hmm..hmm"
"meeru", "nenu wesukunna le"
"purse, dabbulu pettunkunnaraa...", "hmm, petukunna"
they go out and were about to close the door..."tring, tring...tring, tring"..."phone andi...aa car wademo", husband walks enthusiastically inside..."hello, hello...", "cut ipoyindhi"...,"sare, sare inka late iwuthundhi podham pada..." they lock and step outside.
old man and woman, walk out onto the main road...rain had stopped but as it was very early in the morning, it was very cold. They were both covered with woollen stuff..."meeru kuda mufler kattaukowalasinde...", "sare naaku module inapadadhu, inka mufler to aiythe anthe mari...poyi edina autono, taxino chudaala"..."mellaga, nuwwu mellega naduwu"
There are not many people on the street at that time, it was still dark and not much was seen..."sare nenu koncham aa cross waruku poyi chustha...", "undandi, ikkade edina wasthundo emo..."...by that time husband was already walking...maybe he did not hear as well!
As he was walking few steps, he saw that there is a car parked under a tree opposite to their home itself, he wondered if it was a taxi, or it could be somebody's car parked as well...usually there are quite a few people parking their cars on the road itself...he changed his course and walked towards that car...as he went closer, he saw red words "Taxi"...now there was hope in him, walking a little faster, he peeped through the window and tried to see if the driver was inside...indeed, there was somebody sleeping in the driver seat..."yeme...", "ikkada oka taxi undi, driver kuda unnatte undhi" he said loudly to his wife..."waakili kottandi"...slapping the driver seat glass.."babu...wasthawa... babu"...as for all this noise, the person inside the car, woke..., slowly, he came out and yawningly asked..." emi saar"..."wasthawa?...airport ki wellala...", "sare...", by this time, wife walked upto the car..."wasthadanta...pada" so, there was excitement, cold and eagerness to go, so hurriedly they sat in the car..., driver picked a bottle from under his seat, maybe water...went outside and splashed some water on his face, cleaned his mouth, had a sip of same...and came back to drive.
"Perumalle-nandi, sahayam chesedu...leka pothe, taxi intha sulabanga ela dorukutundhi...", "sare, dorikindhi kadha"...
car started going...it was dark most of the places, but, once in a while, the sodium lamps was lighting them up...
"naaku chaala aaturanga undandi...eppudu eppudu papodni chustana ani wundhi...", "hmm..., sare inkemi oka ghanta sepe kadha"
as this journey continued...old man saw...the car interior felt familier..."haa..." there was the same "vaasu" on the wind shield..." old man, raised himself a little and went closer to the driver, "babu...nuwwu, nuwwe kadha ninna raatri...", "awanu sir, nene..." husband, looks at his wife and says...ee taxi, ninna angadi nunchi manam intiki wachina dey...", there was a momentary shock in their expressions...how come they got the same taxi? why did he park himself here?...very surprised!
"babu, maaku emi mataladalo teliayatledu...", "you dont know how much favor you have done to us", said the old man emotionally. "iysa kyun kiya tum?"
wife literally had tears in her eyes..."devudu neeku tappakunda manche chestaadu..."
"peddayana, pedamma...ekkuwa pareshan kaawaddu...", "ninna mee iddarrini chuse, chaala pareshan pareshan awutunnaru, mimmalni widichi poyeka wellutu unte naaku maa amma, nanna gurtiki wacheru", mee matalu yaad wachinayi......sare ippude intiki welli elagu nenu chesedhi kuda emi ledhu, ikkade car lo padukonni, meeku airport teeskelthe meeku kuda maddad awuthundani, return wachchi ikkade unna...", "meeku vere car dorikithe manchidi...leka pothe, nenu help chesinattu untundhani..."
what to say...the old couple were very emotional...indeed, this taxi driver exhibitted devine characteristics... more importantly he didnt make it look like a sacrifice or a great act, it was very simple thought process for him. Most of the times, if we make only one step move towards helping the society, God will add multiple steps to it and people will be immensely benefitted...
"peddayana...paisalunnaya ledha...ninna raatri 5 rupayilu kuda baaki undhi"...all of them laughed...
