Story

Everyone has a story, but I was highly moved after listening to a story of a taxi driver in Dubai.

His name was Kumar and he was a graduate in accounting. When asked why he chooses to drive a taxi when he could get a decent job based on his degree, he said he did have an accounting job and that’s what brought him to Dubai from India, but few years later his employer shut down the company and he was left jobless. He tried seveal places but due to visa complications and other reasons never found a decent job, and was forced to start taxi driving. It pays him decent.

He had two sisters waiting to get married and a brother back in India. He saves every penny to get his sisters married. He called his brother to Dubai so they could work together and share the load, but few months later his brother died of Hepatitis. He was all alone again, in situation worse than ever. He had lost his brother, was out of money, and had two sisters waiting to get married. All the while he kept on delaying his own marriage, despite the fact that he was engaged to his fiancee for many years. Eventually he did get married, some 10 years later than he should have, but his wife and kids still live in India and he lives in Dubai alone, driving taxi all day long. He doesn’t see his life getting any better until both his sisters get married, only then he would think about doing something for himself.

He can’t move back to India because even the best job he could have there would pay only a fraction of what he earns by driving in Dubai.

*Story was word of the day for Wednesday Wanderers