[gsratta]

This is an incidence, which happened about 35 years back, it happened with my father, who is a doctor, while going to our native village in Distt. Ganganagar in Rajasthan, on his Royal Enfield, a middle aged man, with a plaster over his arm, stopped him for a lift, my father obliged, and gave him lift for about 55km. On the way my father told him that he was a doctor posted at so and so hospital. When my father asked him, who he was? he told my father, that his name was Jalandhar Singh, the rest, he can enquire from his father -i-e- my grandfather. when my father narrated the incidence to my grandfather, he got a good scolding, as that person was a wanted dacoit of the region, his arm was injured during a recent encounter with some rival gang. Moreover due to the disturbed environment for 10 to 15 years- 80s and 90s, though now it has been peaceful for the past 15 years, i have never dared to give lift to anyone.

[AbhishekB86]

1. When I was driving back from Mumbai to Delhi and had almost reached Jaipur, I stopped by a Cafe Coffee Day to get myself a cuppa and use the washroom too. Once I was done with the coffee, the entire CCD staff came up to me and requested if I could drop one of them 3 kms ahead since they ran out of milk. I was so amused, I agreed. It was my contribution to the supplies of the day

2. This Auditor who is now at our office past two weeks instead of asking me if I could pick/drop him went ahead and asked my boss. I was called to my boss' cabin and was 'told' that I had to pick/drop him. If that wasn't annoying enough, he would audit in the car too. I found a way to deal with it. This man was fond of Rafi. Next day I opened the playlists I had as a teenager and digged out Children of Bodom, Cradle of Filth, Megadeth, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Sepultura and all the other metal songs I had on my system. After listening to the craziness for two days, the auditor disappeared.

Lesson : Next time you want a lift ask the person who's going to give you the lift and not his boss.

[kippu]

I do give lifts to strangers , I see them most often asking lifts to bike riders and only some of them do take them on the bikes , so if I feel that the person asking is someone very desperate for a ride , I take them in my car and like to talk with them.

I work from home , so in the rare times that I do go out , I offer rides to people from my township going towards the area of office , they dont ask for it , i just ask if they need a ride and open the door and I am sure all of them are suprised and happy at it.

[bullet-tooth]

I was once driving near SRP tools Chennai and noticed one of the AC Volvos going to Siruseri had a breakdown. Lots of IT crowd were there and most of them didn’t bother to take another ride to office. Most of them were on their cell phones (calling their managers to inform the delay I guess). There was this one guy who was desperately asking lift from almost all the bikers. I saw his desperation and stopped my car a little ahead of him and called him. He was rather surprised and then he came running towards the car. After he got in he thanked me a lot for the help and he told that there was some important delivery meeting which he should not miss and all. Dropped him near his office and he thanked me and left.

[nitin.rai]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Incredulous looks directed at me, "jackass" looks at each other, and 2 high velocity impacts of car doors with the frames later, they got off in a huff.
Could be because my house was just 100-150 meters from where I picked them up?

This re-affirms my belief in 3 degrees of separation in the world.
If it isnt for too much of a co-incidence this had happened with one of my ex-gf (she was with another friend of her) at the same place, situation you described so the world indeed seems small.

[airguitar]

Many times.

This was a couple of years back when I frequently used to use NH 207 to get to NH 4 or NH 206 from Hoskote, not many buses ply on this road, other than "shuttle gaadi"s which are infrequent. Somewhere between Doddaballapur and Dobbaspet, perhaps Belavangala, I was stopped by a posse of 3-4 policemen. I stopped. They checked inside to see if there were family members, no, so they asked if I could drop their "sahebru" at Dobbaspet. I said "OK". I moved all my stuff ( on-drive snacks, dry fruits, camera etc to the back seat and got him to sit on the front seat ). He asked me if I was heading towards Nelamangala, I said no I'm driving to Hubli and he promptly asked me if he could get down at Tumkur instead of Dobbespet. And so I did ( must say a little gladly as I was driving down to Hubli solo and I badly needed some company to talk to that morning ).

Another time was in Kasargod, I was heading towards Bekal. I missed the road that goes into Kasargod town for a few meters from the circle and then take the road to Bekal. Instead I headed down on the straight road for a couple of kms. I then realized that I may have missed the right road and stopped to enquire. The guy promptly tried to open the door and get in. It was locked and I gave him a bewildered look, he said he wanted a lift to Kasargod town. Once he got in, he told me "I'm a school teacher, and I have given my car for servicing", in Malayalam. And then he proceeded with his conversation ( switching his language from Malayalam to Kannada ).

"Is this a Diesel car"?
"No, Petrol"
"Petrol cars are useless. Better to sell it"
"Which car do you have?"
"Honda"
(No question about the model)
"Petrol?"
"Yes"
(and then I gave him that look ).

On that trip, I got to see the roadside "Python shows" somewhere before Kasargod. My nuts and bolts, it was a big one with a dozens of people gathered around the Python.

On numerous occasions, I end up giving lift to people who I ask for routes, esp in rural settings.

On numerous occasions, I have not offered lift to people even when they looked bonafide. E.g. there was a lady waiting somewhere near Ramasagara ( between Chandapura and Dommasandra ) at 11.30 PM in the night on a Sunday, asking for a lift. She looked every bit an IT person with stylish bag/well dressed et al. What I could not answer was why would someone working on a Sunday till late that time not work out their conveyance earlier ? And could she not have phoned a friend ? My wife was with me and I didn't want risk our safety ( I wouldn't perhaps not offered a lift even if I was alone ). After I passed her, I saw here kicking the road in anger in my RVM. Till this day I wonder if she actually needed help and we didn't do the right thing in leaving her there..

And then on another occasion, I offered a lift to a decently dressed guy somewhere between Koratagere and Madhugiri. He got in and promptly lit his beedi. I asked him to throw it away and he said, he would open the window and then smoke. Eventually, I got him to throw it away.


My thumb-rule(s):

1. Don't offer lift to anyone if you are traveling with lady members of the family
2. Never get them to sit on the backseat if you driving alone
3. Make sure you and your group outnumber them or atleast equal them. E.g. dont' offer lift to 2 people if you are alone.
4. Never offer a lift to strangers in Bangalore city ( or perhaps any other big city too, irrespective of the time of the day and irrespective of their countenance.
5. Lastly, if he's not speaking clearly, he may be drunk, and I don't oblige them.

[dezrskb]

Now reading this thread I remember an incident 3 years back where I was probably lucky.
I had started from Bangalore to go to Kumta in north canara dist via Tumkur, Sagar and Jog falls. As I was traveling first time on this route and was alone, wanted to leave Bangalore early morning and be in unfamiliar road after Tumkur when the daylight broke and to get away from Bangalore before the traffic Chaos started. Car was old Maruti Zen. Probably by 4.45am I must have reached one of those toll booths on highway to Tumkur and as I was approaching the toll booth, I saw few trucks ahead of me and stopped behind them in darkness. Then I saw a lone fellow (in his 30s) coming to my car from left side and knocking on my window. I lowered the glass just by an inch manually bending to left (Zen Lx with no power windows, but I would have had it if it was power window with one touch down). I distinctly remember not unlocking the door (central locking being after market fitting in this car, needed me to manually unlock driver door to unlock all other doors). Then this fellow keeps his fingers in the gap and says he would like to go to another place about 10kms away and would like a drop. I start thinking as this was first experience but grew increasingly suspicious and said sorry. But then I saw this fellow looking over his shoulders and saw another couple of guys walking towards the car out of darkness and this guy trying to pull the door open. Just then the truck ahead of me drove off and I engaged first gear, drove forwards and blasted the horn to draw attention of the people at toll booth. Then I saw these people backing off. Looking back, I thought I had a narrow escape there. If the glass was down, he could have put his hand inside to manually unlock the passenger door. Today's anti pinch windows too would have rolled down with his fingers in the gap if I tried raising the glass with the driverside control button.

[Farukh]

During my colleeg days: I was on a signal waiting for green light on my Pulsar 180 returning from college. A school boy asks me for lift, I obliged and later realized that I had my phone in the side pocket of my bag which was hung on my back. Till the time I dropped him, I was checking my rear view mirrors just to check if he's after that. Later he thanked me with an innocent smile and I was so embarrased for what I thought of him.

Couple of weeks back: It was around 11pm, I was returning home. Saw a guy from my apartment on the road walking, I stopped and asked if he wanted to come along. He gets in and this the first time we actually spoke (knew him by face only till that date). He asks me why do you need a car, was it really necessary, you should live a simple life and all that crap. It doesn't end yet. After I parked my car, he started preaching me and showing how bad I was for not being devout religious for good 15 mins. Our watchman was a mute spectator and was just waiting for us to get out of his sight so he could get on with his sleep. I finally pulled out my phone and faked a call for an escape. Always works! Thanked my god and ran upstairs, din't even bother to wait for the lift.
Same guy meets me today morning and asks if I had woken up early to pray!

[aargee]

The last I remember giving lift is somewhere in 1997 on my Max100 to a student; the only reason I don't want to give lift is because, whoever's time is not good, either mine or the person who boards into my vehicle or even both, I can take responsibility for my own mistakes, but don't want to extend it for other's. Don't know how much of trouble I would be making it to myself.

These days I don't think twice to refuse even to cops for the same reason.

[tud]

This is actually a scene from a tamil movie, but you dont need to know the language to understand this one. Hilarious one. But will make you think twice to give a lift in the future. Watch this from 5 mins and 40 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1vln...utu.be&t=5m40s

[dgupta]

Originally Posted by Farukh

Same guy meets me today morning and asks if I had woken up early to pray!

Reading this I remembered the scene from the movie Jhankar Beats where this neighbour teaches Sanjay Suri "all about control" while they are waiting for Rahul Bose
Cannot find the link on youtube

[sam_boy]

This happened to me 2 months back.

It was a Saturday night and around 10:30 PM my wife asked me to get some sweet Pan and we both went to the near by pan shop. The Pan shop owner is known to me as I have been staying in the same area for last 2.5 yrs. I saw a young girl around 25 years standing in front of the shop and waiting for the bus. It is a little unusual in my area ( After Sai Baba Ashram in Kadugodi towards Hoskote) to find people waiting for bus at that time as the bus services are feeble after 9 PM. I asked the Pan shop guy for how much time the girl is standing. He said she is there for last 45 mins and none of the buses came, only a TATA sumo came but all of the passengers were guys that is why she did not get into it. I asked my wife to go and ask her where she wants to go and how is she planning to go. My wife came back and told me that the girl almost cried talking to her and she was very nervous as no buses are coming. I told my wife to call her into the car and offer her to drop at her house, she did not even object to it and sat in the rear seat. She spoke little english and I asked her if she knows tamil ( as I know that language little better than kannada). Once I started talking to her in tamil she got little comfortable. She immediately called me Anna and told me she has started working in Park Square mall and this is the 1st time she did 2nd shift and did not get any bus. She has only her dad at home who is very aged and no one was there to help her at this time. I felt really sad about her helplessness. She asked me to drop her in the hoskote, whitefield road junction and assured me she can get a bus from there as she stays in Avalahalli. I told her not to wait any more and dropped her directly in Avalahalli. She requested us not to drop her near her house as people might think differently. To which me and my wife agreed. She said thanks with a folded pair of hands when she got down. My wife was almost in tears after dropping her. Finally we came back home around 11:30 PM.

My wife's brother who stays in the same society was waiting for us in my house and gave me Gyan about not entertaining strangers on the road. But I think we did what we felt correct and can not imagine what could have happened to the poor girl had she been left alone on the road. The satisfaction of being able to help someone in need is priceless and I realized this once again on that day.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by sam_boy

This happened to me 2 months back.

It was a Saturday night and around 10:30 PM my wife asked me to get some sweet Pan and we both went to the near by pan shop. The Pan shop owner is known to me as I have been staying in the same area for last 2.5 yrs. I saw a young girl around 25 years standing in front of the shop and waiting for the bus. It is a little unusual in my area ( After Sai Baba Ashram in Kadugodi towards Hoskote) to find people waiting for bus at that time as the bus services are feeble after 9 PM. I asked the Pan shop guy for how much time the girl is standing. He said she is there for last 45 mins and none of the buses came, only a TATA sumo came but all of the passengers were guys that is why she did not get into it. I asked my wife to go and ask her where she wants to go and how is she planning to go. My wife came back and told me that the girl almost cried talking to her and she was very nervous as no buses are coming. I told my wife to call her into the car and offer her to drop at her house, she did not even object to it and sat in the rear seat. She spoke little english and I asked her if she knows tamil ( as I know that language little better than kannada). Once I started talking to her in tamil she got little comfortable. She immediately called me Anna and told me she has started working in Park Square mall and this is the 1st time she did 2nd shift and did not get any bus. She has only her dad at home who is very aged and no one was there to help her at this time. I felt really sad about her helplessness. She asked me to drop her in the hoskote, whitefield road junction and assured me she can get a bus from there as she stays in Avalahalli. I told her not to wait any more and dropped her directly in Avalahalli. She requested us not to drop her near her house as people might think differently. To which me and my wife agreed. She said thanks with a folded pair of hands when she got down. My wife was almost in tears after dropping her. Finally we came back home around 11:30 PM.

My wife's brother who stays in the same society was waiting for us in my house and gave me Gyan about not entertaining strangers on the road. But I think we did what we felt correct and can not imagine what could have happened to the poor girl had she been left alone on the road. The satisfaction of being able to help someone in need is priceless and I realized this once again on that day.

A really kind thing to do I must say. When you read or hear such things tears spring unbidden to your eyes. Well done and my heart is glad that we have guys like you amongst us here!
No wonder there is a lot of opposition from the Government against making ladies work late on the evening or night shift, unless of course proper transport is provided. I know the area you are talking about and even in the day time it is rather lonely and deserted. Considering that it is a relatively newer development and has only achieved the status of being much sought after now, over the last 3 to 4 years, I guess that is to be expected. But comparing with how it used to be 12 years back, there is a marked difference now.
The saddest thing is that these people need jobs too and the service and retail industries are relatively easier to secure jobs in, on account of the high staff turnover.
It is heartbreaking that even now, 65 years post Independence, that our own countrymen and women have to go through such difficulties. Where is the government when one needs them? And more so, there ought to be regulations in place that employers need to follow, to see their frontline staff properly cared for.
Only then, will we be on our way to becoming a more responsible society. Notwithstanding all this growth and so on, basically the working conditions in some industries are nothing short of barbaric!

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by nitin.rai

This re-affirms my belief in 3 degrees of separation in the world.
If it isnt for too much of a co-incidence this had happened with one of my ex-gf (she was with another friend of her) at the same place, situation you described so the world indeed seems small.

Oh?
Ask her, if you can, if she remembers the car- a white 800, second gen, driven a guy who didnt look old enough to be driving!

[sam_boy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

A really kind thing to do I must say. When you read or hear such things tears spring unbidden to your eyes. Well done and my heart is glad that we have guys like you amongst us here!
No wonder there is a lot of opposition from the Government against making ladies work late on the evening or night shift, unless of course proper transport is provided. I know the area you are talking about and even in the day time it is rather lonely and deserted. Considering that it is a relatively newer development and has only achieved the status of being much sought after now, over the last 3 to 4 years, I guess that is to be expected. But comparing with how it used to be 12 years back, there is a marked difference now.
The saddest thing is that these people need jobs too and the service and retail industries are relatively easier to secure jobs in, on account of the high staff turnover.
It is heartbreaking that even now, 65 years post Independence, that our own countrymen and women have to go through such difficulties. Where is the government when one needs them? And more so, there ought to be regulations in place that employers need to follow, to see their frontline staff properly cared for.
Only then, will we be on our way to becoming a more responsible society. Notwithstanding all this growth and so on, basically the working conditions in some industries are nothing short of barbaric!

Sir. Thanks for the kind words. I was able to help her because my wife was next to me. I really feel sad when these shops employ ladies but do not provide any transportation to them in the late hours. Govt should tightly enforce some rules here ( I think there are rules only for IT/BPO companies).

OT: I have heard a lot about you from the Vinayak Skoda ORR guys while taking the delivey of my skoda rapid this sunday. They mentioned about you when they realized I m a TBHPian. Would love to meet you at some occasion ( Like a TBHP meet, I have never been a part of a meet).