Quite often, I find myself talking to the taxi drivers in New York City. Sometimes out of curiosity as to what their lives are like, and other times to distract myself from the bumper-to-bumper frustrating traffic.

Bhagwan Singh is a Sikh from Mumbai, who later went to Delhi. He did his Masters in Marketing and a degree in Computers. He talked about how he got “laid off” before the 9/11 episode. “The thought of driving a taxi initially was a tough one, but I had three children and no money coming in,” he said. “I started driving on weekends to begin with after a friend persuaded me.”
Bhagwan Singh claims he bought the licence at that time for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and today, he can sell it for a whopping seven hundred and fifty thousand if he chose to. “Karta Purukh,” he said, surrendering to God. In our Japji Sahib ‘Karta Purukh’ means Man proposes, God disposes. “There is no question of regrets,” he said. “I love my work. I meet people, am on the road and it pays my bills.” He has three children, whom he has sent to India for education. He pulled out a little placard he pastes on his taxi during stressful times. It reads “Need Help, Free Taxi”. During 9/11 and the recent hurricane, he served people without charging them. “Mon-ey isn’t everything,” he says.
Hassan did his engineering from BITS Pilani. He is originally from Bangladesh. He arrived at the “land of opportunity” to make his millions. Full of ambition and loaded with knowledge in his subject, he was looking for brighter prospects. But as fate would have it, his wife fell and broke her leg. “I lost the job lined up for me,” he said. “My mother is very sick in Dhaka and I have to send her money every month.” During a 45-minute ride from the meat packing district to the Upper East Side, he talked to me about his misfortunes. “We have also been trying for a baby for eight years,” he shrugged.
I could not help asking him, “A well qualified engineer now drives a taxi. How do you deal with the frustration?” “Initially, I was very frustrated and went from pillar to post seeking support. However, here, there is no pillar or post. You have to do everything on your own and deal with all the consequences. With nothing else left, I started driving a taxi,” he said, adding, “I love it. It is liberating. You are your own boss. Maybe this is what destiny had for me. I have accepted it, now I am happy. You never know what plans God has for you,” he said.
“You never know what God has in store for you,” said Ireena, a hairdresser at a salon called Filet Et Garcon on 55th and Lexington. Ireena is middle-aged with bright blue eyes and moved to New York from Russia. “I am a chemical engineer,” she said, shocking me. “But there’s no space for an engineer in this country. When I was a young girl I wanted to be a hairdresser, but my parents would not hear of it. Finally, I learnt it here after being a qualified engineer, but with little or no choice,” she said.
She too loves her work. “I did not fight fate and this is what I was meant to do. What is the point of frustration and unhappiness? It is the will of God and I happily accept it,” she said in her Russian accent with her blue eyes sparkling, “Otherwise, it is like grappling in the dark.”