The India-Pakistan Conflict in a Philly Cab

By ⋅ January 23, 2013 ⋅ Post a comment
Philadelphia cab (Photo: Ben Brewer/Flickr)

Philadelphia cab (Photo: Ben Brewer/Flickr)

On a December morning, I checked out of my hotel in Philadelphia, and wheeled my suitcase through the automatic doors. Several taxis —yellow, white and multicolored— were lined up at the curb. I looked through the window of one cab and gestured to the driver to pop the trunk for me.

The guy looked Indian. I put my suitcase away and hopped in next to him, hoping for some conversation along the way.

“Airport?” The guy asked me.

“No, the train station,” I replied with a smile.

He started the meter and took off. The driver looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was a little overweight—his paunch pressing against the steering wheel.

I asked him, “Are you from India?”

He looked at me with a blank face and said, “Pakistan. Are you from India?”

I said yes and smiled again. He didn’t respond.

So a few seconds later, I tried again. “How are things in Pakistan?”

“Not good,” he said, looking ahead. I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t appear to be in a mood to talk. I decided not to bother him. But a minute later, when I was looking out the window, he said, “Your country is responsible for all the problems in Pakistan.”

I looked at him, surprised, but didn’t say anything.

Deepak Singh (Photo: Deepak Singh/Facebook)

Deepak Singh (Photo: Deepak Singh/Facebook)

“Innocent children and women are dying daily,” he continued. “Every other day there is a terrorist attack. It has become impossible to live there.” I didn’t know what to say.

“Can you ask your country to stop the killings?” he said, turning to me, with teary eyes. “I have lost so many of my relatives.”

I was just going to the station to catch a train to Charlottesville, Virginia, and wasn’t prepared for my 15-minute taxi ride to be so intense. I was sitting next to him, and he was waiting for me to answer his question.

“Can you help us?” he asked again. I swallowed, and nodded unconvincingly. For the next ten minutes, we sat next to each other, without saying a word. I watched tears rolling down his cheeks, dropping on the steering wheel. I felt helpless and uncomfortable.

Finally, we arrived at the station, and he stopped the car. The meter displayed $12.67. We both got out. He pulled my suitcase out of the trunk, and I pulled out a $20 bill to pay him, thinking I’d tell him to keep the change. I approached him and handed him the money. He took the bill, folded it, and shoved it back into my shirt pocket.

“Do something,” he said to me. “We need your country’s help.”

I just stood there and watched him get into his car and drive away.

Discussion

7 comments for “The India-Pakistan Conflict in a Philly Cab”

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/3U2VKYIAWOFAD5LWGJ4U5U6MQM RAVI

    Shame that writer did not even try to reason with poor chap and tell him India has nothing to do with the destruction and mayhem inside Pakistan but everything has to do with the intolerant ideology on which Pakistan was founded!

  • http://www.facebook.com/rahul.deshetty Rahul Deshetty

    The writer was being empathetic towards the cab driver. The turmoil in Pakistan has more to do with their corrupt politicians that line their own pockets than worry about their own people. With the billions in aid that the U.S. has given that government, there has been no change in the living standards of the lower class people. People in that country need real change. Change in election of politicians without any education or common sense. If only the youth of that country were given an opportunity with education and jobs, that country would flourish for years to come. Its easy to say these words when living in the comforts of a western country. 

  • akbar malik

    Pakistan was founded on the basis of its Muslim identity (which is biblical ) and not on this new post 80′s Al Qaeda and Taleban ideology wrongly being called Islam. This is new to Pakistan itself and is an import from 80′s onwards. as for India, the problems with India are different. The only problem there is Kashmir which can be resolved amicably. 

  • http://twitter.com/Umairmirza UMAIRICA

    i m a pakistani and find it painfully DUH piece of article. either the cab guy was a part time broadway performer or Deepak loves looking , watching, standing, watching .. best part . he saved 12 dollars !

  • k k

    Respect and cool heads prevailed at the end. Pakistan is going through a rough time. It will swing back to its glory one day InshaAllah. Peace India.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nabilryan Ryan Nabil

    This guy is the next big Indian writer I am telling you! 

  • Vaidya10

    World.org published a one sided story.   A Pakistani taxi driver emotionally blaming India for terrorism inside Pakistan without any evidence, and reported by an Indian too taken aback to refute it.
    World.org should set the record straight for all listeners.  India does not sponsor terror in Pakistan,  On other hand, India is a democratic society that has suffered from Pakistani sponsored terror – recall the 26/11 Mumbai outrage that killed 166 people including 6 Americans, a plot that was hatched and directed in Pakistan, as proven by the recent conviction in Chicago of David Coleman Headley.