The Bumpy Ride

        Sonia walked out of the metro station wrapping her shawl around her as the smog hit her. This road was always crowded with tempos and mini trucks, which made the pollution almost violent at this junction.

She saw the lone scruffy haggard auto driver staring at her. She tried to avoid him and look around but at this busy time of the evening, she was lucky to get a vacant auto rickshaw. Her home was only a 10-minute walk from the station but the traffic was horrendous and it was nearly impossible to cross the street. And the most unsafe part was the walk inside the colony. There were no streetlights making it uncomfortably dark and normally it was deserted apart from the roadside hooligans. Sonia noticed the auto rickshaw had a ‘Womens respect is my honour’ sticker on the back. She smirked; all of them had put it up since that terrifying incident 2 years ago. Delhi had been labeled the rape capital of the world when the details of the gang rape and murder had become known.

The driver looked sleazy but she had no other choice. She took a picture of the auto rickshaw’s license plate number and sent it to her mom. A precaution she had started taking since that incident.

The auto jerked and took off, Sonia was used to the jolts and bumps that came with the auto rickshaw commute but this driver seemed particularly aggressive, constantly cutting off motorbikes and cars.

‘Brother, please drive slow’, Sonia said as sternly as she dared.

He looked at her through the rear view mirror and grunted something inaudible over the blaring of the horns. She bumped her head to the side as he took a U-turn into her neighbourhood.  Sonia felt uneasy as the driver kept staring at her through the mirror. She tried to ignore his gaze as she gave directions. He took a wrong turn and she panicked.

‘I told you to turn left’, she shouted.

‘Sorry sister’, he mumbled and immediately took a U – turn, jerking her backwards.

Sonia told him to stop a few buildings down from hers, yet another practice that started so the drivers wouldn’t know where she lived.

As she handed him the money, she saw his hands were stained with tobacco. He didn’t look at her directly, shifting his eyes away. It was very unnerving, as he had kept staring at her through out the ride. Something didn't feel right.

As she walked away hurriedly she could feel his eyes on her and started praying as she nearly fled into her home.

Manoj waited until he saw Madam walk safely into her building. He had a headache, he had forgotten his hearing aid in his room again, and it was hard to follow directions without it. He saw a light go on, on the second floor and he knew she had probably gone into her flat, so he turned on the ignition. Delhi was a very unsafe place so he tried to make sure his passengers were safe before he left.