[Scorpioman]

This is slightly off topic, but was a lift to someone so posting here.

A few years ago a good friends sister was at the Indranagar RTO ( Bangalore ) for her license. She was told to wait down in the car and the inspector will be there shortly. Around 15 minutes later the inspector came down and asked her if she was waiting for the license test, she said yes and he got into the car and asked her to start. They drove down towards Ulsoor lake and just past the lake he asked her to stop on the side of the road. Once she stopped, he got off, thank her for the lift and told her to go back to the RTO, the license officer will be there in about 30 minutes.

What a way to get a lift...

[ninjatalli]

Nice thread. Have quite a few anecdotes to mention on this aspect

1. Around early 90s we (my parents, grandparents, my brother & myself) are heading from Baroda towards Anand in my dad's Premier Padmini. The six of us are just able to manage in the car. About some 20+ kms before Anand, we ask for directions for our destination location to a guy on the road. Instead of giving us pointers, the chap states to my dad - Give me a lift and I'll show you the exact location. My dad, completely flabbergasted at this, is speechless for a moment. Then he puts the car into gear, casually asks the fellow to climb into the boot and drives on.

2. The drive to my office passes through several bus-stops/junctions where people board buses/6-seaters/autos for office. A lot of these guys ask bikers for lifts, however it'll be a rare case if even one of them asks a car for a lift. Which is funny, because 9 out of 10 cars will have only 1 person in it. Everyday I think of stopping on my own and giving a lift to any of these guys, and instead everyday I just keep on driving deciding I'll wait for someone to ask for me a lift.The other day one young fellow dares to do that. And I stop right there. He probably didn't expect me to stop, maybe the hand was raised for the bike that went before me, or the one behind me. Slowly he walks up to me, and in a feeble voice, queries "Lift?"

I nod my head. He then looks at his friend, and then again asks me, "Umm. I have a friend too. Can he come too?" Honks are blaring at me. The numerous bikes and cars have no care for what is happening here, all they can see is their lane being blocked by my car. I gesture them to get in, and we move on. Over the journey I try to make small talk to them, however to no avail. When I finally drop them off, both of them mutter a feeble thanks, and move on.

3. The return journey from my office is a different story. You'll hardly see people asking for lifts, in stark difference to the morning situation. However there are these security guards who generally request one of the bikers to drop them at the (next) main junction. The other day, there was one fellow who tries to flag a biker for a lift, but doesn't succeed. I stop my car in front of him - he stares at me for a few seconds but doesn't speak a word. I ask him if he needs a lift. A smile appears on his face, and he nods his head and gets in, and we move on.

In stark difference to my earlier situation, this guy keeps blabbering. This is probably the first time he's sitting in a sedan, forget a VW. Like a kid his eyes are lit up. The conversation goes like this

He: Saab, bahut achi gaadi hai ye. Kaunsi gaadi hai?
Me: Ye Vento hai.
He: Achaaa hai. Hamare bade saab ke paas bhi aisi badi gadi hai
Meanwhile I switch on the music.
He: Arre music system toh badiya hai. Bahut achi gaadi hai.
Saab kitne ki gaadi hai ye.
Me: Kuch 10 lakh ki hai.
He: Arre wah. Bahut achi gaadi hai.

He then lumbers on about other matters ranging from where I am, where his hometown is, the traffic issues in Pune and so on.

10 minutes later, and we are almost at the junction he was to get down. Clearly the best 10 minutes of my day. I ask him if he is going on the same route as mine, and suggest to him that I can drop him ahead. He refuses and profusely thanks me for the lift and gets out.

Since then there hasn't been a single day when I don't look out on the way back from my office to give these guys a lift.

[drmohitg]

I as a rule don't stop to give lift to strangers. The thought has crossed my mind a lot of times but the NCR crime rate makes you think otherwise.

One incident I remember is around 15 years back when I took a lift. We were returning from jaipur with me, my parents, grandmother and sister in our maruti van. Somewhere near the midway around 5pm in the evening the car broke down and we were really tired and stressed as to what to do next. The next thing we see is this maruti 800 stop next to us with a family of 4 inside ( 2 adults and 2 small kids). The guy asked us if we needed any help and we told him that the car has broken down. He was too going to delhi and offered us a ride all the way to delhi. It was one drive I would always remember. The poor guy made one kid sit in the front in his wife's lap with my parents and grandmother on the back seat and me and my sister somehow accomodating in there laps. Even today I thank him for his gesture that day.

The car came a day later with the driver.

[mazda4life]

Apologies for going off topic , this is an anecdote where we asked for a lift and that saved us from a night in the Agumbe forest.

My aunt ( mother's sister) is a doctor and was posted to work in Kadur and we were visiting her for our summer break. We all wanted to see the sunset at Agumbe and took a bus till the sunset point and kept waiting for the return bus ( there was only one bus which goes towards Kadur ) and as our luck had it, the bus never came....we were stuck at the sunset point and the sun set with all its splendor and we were still sitting there on the Kerb.

I was just with my mom and my aunt and they were getting mighty nervous, then we saw a truck carrying Mangalore tiles ( henchu) and my aunt waved her hands in all gusto and went to the middle of the road to stop the truck , the driver was a nice gentleman and he made us all climb in the back as he had picked other people like us waiting for the same bus and the front cabin was full ....even after so many years I still can feel the roll and the dust in the back of the truck, but it was just amazing for a 8 year old boy , we still joke with my aunt whenever we meet

BTW, I still remember the name of the truck 'Sri Chennakeshava'

[sameerg001]

I gave lift 1 year back, When I was riding on the way to my friends house, On the way a guy showed me his hands for the life, Don't know what came in my mind but i stopped.

He asked me to leave him a bit further ahead, I said okay and He became a pillion. On the way, till i dropped him, All the thoughts were going round and round in my mind. What if he attacks me with knife, you shouldn't have gave lift to the stranger, No nothing will happen, I consoled myself.

Upon reaching the destination, He thanked me and I took a deep breath, Didn't got a chance to give lift again to someone, till date

Cheers,
Sameer

[COUGAR]

Was once driving from Nagpur to a forest in Central India in a gypsy borrowed from a friend. Around halfway, i stopped at a dhaba for breakfast. There was a Sumo parked on the side which had some problem and the passenger who did not know Marathi, was getting agitated at the poor driver for the delay.

I asked him where he was headed and he said XYZ-pur, which was on my way so I offered to drop him there. Enroute i mentioned the forest I was headed to and he mentioned that he was headed that side too and asked me to drop him there. I was a little taken aback because the forest in question is hardly a tourist spot. I assumed he was heading to one of the coal mines in that area.

Spent next 2 hours in an animated discussion on Forests and Conservation etc. He was very interested in knowing about the Forest we were heading to and the staff there etc. In turn, i was giving him details of how the forest is vulnerable because of poaching and illegal tourism etc.

It was only when i dropped him off at the Forest Gate that I realised I had just given a lift to the new Chief Conservator of Forests!! If i had known earlier, i would have been a lot more reserved in bitching about the Forest Staff! I was spending the next 3 days in a Guest House deep inside the forest and was privileged to be hosted for dinner by this gentleman every single day thereafter!

Now he is even more senior and a good friend! And what a start it was to our friendship!

[scopriobharath]

Wow !! I am really amazed and surprised that there is indeed a thread on offering lifts.

I for one am very skeptical about offering lifts to strangers. In fact even if someone wearing my company Tag / ID waves at me, I do not offer a lift. I offer to someone who is familiar to me by face only.

The only exception is i have offered lifts to uniformed Policemen and defense personal. One while i was returning from IIT Madras, inside the campus an army Jawan requested lift. I told him I have only an XL Super Moped and if he feels comfortable he could hop on. He was very happy to board and i dropped him at the main gate. I felt good after this incident. Jawans protect us day and night in grueling conditions and this is the very least i could do.

I am demotivated by the mugging and raping attempts on unsuspecting victims who offer lifts. Even the policemen discourage motorists from offering lifts/ help to unknown people. Heck they even canvass not to stop our vehicle if someone other than a policeman flags us down.

Kudos to those who have offered / continue to offer Lifts. I salute you guys. Somehow offering lifts to strangers is not in my blood.

[harshaguduru]

i give lifts regularly and whether it is a 6year old kid or 35yr man from the moment they get into the car or on the bike and until they get down. i worry about the danger, but it doesnt deter me from offering lifts.
must have offered lifts to 100 plus people over the years.
some experiences have been very very rewarding.
couple of notable ones were.

once picked up 2 pandits during heavy rains and dropped them a a kilometer out of my way at their temple. the blessings they showered added a little sparkle to my day.

best experience of my life was when 3 friends and i were coming back to college from a movie a 2.30am. we stop to get fuel and see a guy sitting on a chair in the petrol pump with a bottle of vodka and two attendants hovering around a blue pulsar.
my friend is a sardar ji
out of the blue as we were about to start we noticed that the guy had road burn on his hands and as he came closer he spoke in pujabi asking my friends is we can give change for a dollar note
seemed fishy.
he explains that he was coming from a party and stopped to fill petrol but after filling 200 rupees his card was declined. he took teh pump attendant to the atm but card wasnt working. while coming back they slipped on some gravel and injured themselves. now they were siphoning the fuel out . and teh balance to be paid was 20 rupees. we declined the usd and just gave him the Rs20 and went on our way. about 200mts away I realised that if he rode in that inebriated state he would die. and since there were 4 of us on 3 bikes we decided that the friend riding pillion with me would drop him back at his place in numgambakkam. this wasnt much of an impostiton as we wanted to reach our hostel after 4 after the security guy slept off.
we turned back and went to the pump again and told him(gaurav hereafter) that arvinth will drop him. all of a sudden he got emotional and said that he had asked about 15people since 12am for exchanging the dollars and no one had agreed. and here we were helping him get back.
so he says not to nungambakkam but that he has a friend near the airport and lets go there. still wasn't a big imposition and he was genuine fun to hang out with we said yes. following his directions we reached the hilton hotel and he asked to come in for drinks and some food. we were worried that he might stick us with the bill or do some nuisance and get us into trouble.
but wonder of wonders..

all the night staff right from the doorman started greeting him like a friend. and he then told us that he was a flight manager for jet airways international and that the hilton was his second home.
he woke up a friend of his and we had an impromptu 3am party. and hung out there till 630 or 7 am because we had a drink each at 3am. had a good breakfast and coffee and went back.
gaurav stayed in touch for a couple of years after that inviting us to dinner for Diwali where he had invited some colleagues of his(air hostesses) and never forgot to thank us for sparing 10 minutes of our time whenever he called us.

incidents like these always give me the courage to overcome the fear/doubts when i stop to offer lifts to strangers.
something bad may happen but that fear shouldn't stop us from performing multiple acts of kindness.

regards
Harsha.

BTW : we also bandaged his abrasions and were treated a whole laundry list of gaalis as his self given anesthesia wore off..

[amit_purohit20]

I start here by not talking about me offering a lift but how a good samaritan offered a lift to me in my child hood. I was in class 6th and went walking nearly 2 hours (including a bullock cart lift) to a remote corner of my native place which is a small town in MP. I was in the hope of my Uncle being there and that he would bring me back on his scooter after we have had a few sips of cold sugarcane juice at a small stall on the outskirts of our town.
But after I reached this stall I learned that my Uncle has not been there and I am left with only one option to come back home all alone walking in the night. The only road which I knew to come back would pass through some ravines and erry remote places which used to lie on our town's outskirts. It was quite dark and late by then and I started walking alone on that remote road. I walked for nearly 45 mins and then I was infront of a house which is famous to be haunted. I somehow was chanting Hanuman chalisa as I crossed the house and as I had just crossed the house out of nowhere suddenly 8 to 10 village dogs jumped out through the fence and surrounded me and started barking vigorously. One started pulling on my shorts and in no time I would have been bitten badly by the dogs. I have also heard of stories of village dogs killing small kids not known to them.I am terrified and in fear. Exactly at that moment a good samaritan rides on his Blue coloured Bullet and the dogs make way for him to come close to me and then without even waiting a moment I hop on to his Bullet. He makes sure out of his way to drop me to his friends place where I am offered water and made to relax. Bullet guys friend knows my Uncle and so he again drops me home. Had it not been for this good samaritan offering a lift on his own,I might would not have lived to tell this tale or badly bitten.

[rohanjf]

I have given lifts to people on multiple occasions, mostly at nights, and have followed my instincts in picking up the people. Thanks to God, I have never been wrong.

Since I live outside the city, I see people asking for lift just at the ends of city limits. One such guy who spoke Kannada fluently, turned out to be an Assamese in Bangalore since less than a year. Another advised me to drive a little slower at curves when I was having fun :-D.

Best of all, one guy turned out to be my neighbour!!!

Now that I am married (which means, there is always a lady in the car), and am well aware of neighbours, I do not give lifts.

Many years ago, getting a lift in Bangalore was not difficult. Also, the need was less, as rickshaw drivers had little bit sympathy, and buses were not so crowded. Also, company cabs used to ferry people at lesser rates.

I have not been so lucky in getting lifts recently. I reached Majestic in Bangalore at midnight a few months ago, and managed to find a bus till Koramangala. From there I walked till Iblur (5 km or so) with my hand stretched asking for lift. Finally got a Meru cab to go home to Sarjapur.

I sometimes think that I could give lift to anyone if I have a car with separate passenger are, such as Thar or Xenon. I guess the cabib cannot be intruded from behind in these cars, right?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Pancham

Very nice gesture but I dont think guys from Delhi or any other metro would even dare to do what you did. With the increasing number of crimes (eg. punture gang of Delhi) which involve children as well I dont think it is safe to give any person a ride. :(

What is a pucture gang? What is their scam?

[ArunV]

Once on the way from Kochi to Bangalore, I decided to take the Calicut route. I was not familiar with the route and stopped near Thrisur Bus stand to ask for the turn to Calicut. There were few ppl on the road, mostly daily workers, waiting for their bus to the work site. I asked the route and was about to move when they asked me for a lift till Kuttipuram.
First instinct was to say No, but dont know how.. i said Yes. And two guys wanted to join me and both got into the rear seat.
I was bit worried as that was the time when i heard stories of car drivers strangled from behind and cars stolen. But the guys were very nice and though they were a bit hesitant in talking in the beginning, they were enjoying the drive towards the end.
But even when they got up, they didnt get an anwer for the question 'Why do you drive alone from Kochi to Blore when there are so many buses & trains available?.. :-)

[CliffHanger]

During a recent trip to Vaalparai.

[Seek]

My best experience with giving a lift to someone is this - on a trip to tirupati from chennai in 2009 i was stopped by a couple of policemen at the base checkpoint where the vehicles are checked. With a quick permission from me they got a person in safari suit to sit behind in my car and requested me to drop him at the top. It happened all too quick and i didnt have a chance to ask any questions or refuse permission! Got chatting with the person on the drive up and it turned out he was the chief vigilance commissioner of the shrine!! His jeep had broken down and hence the 'lift'. Needless to mention, i had a grand quick darshan that day and also got a place in the government guesthouse there to freshen up, all thanks to the gentleman.

That was my first trip to tirupati and i had lingering doubts about how i would get to do the darshan, crowd, waiting time and all. Truly some divine intervention that day

[Pancham]

Originally Posted by carboy

What is a pucture gang? What is their scam?

Recently in Delhi a bunch of kids were caught by police. They were mostly aged between 13-17. I dont remember the exact details but they would puncture the car in the traffic signal and then tell the driver (who is usually a well to do owner). He would get down the car to take a look and that is when the belongings of the car owner goes missing. Actual occurings may differ because I dont exactly remember the details.