A few days back after landing in Chennai, I hired a taxi – as usual, the pre-paid yellow/black taxi (almost all times, I hire only that taxi and not the app-based ones, a sincere attempt on my part to serve that segment of taxi drivers). An old-looking man was my driver, though he was just 63, he looked older than that.

As usual, I picked up a conversation with him and understood that he works for three days a week, for long hours. He starts the day at 8 AM and by the time he winds up and returns home, it is easily 1:30 am or 2 am and he gets just 4 hours of sleep. The heavily lost sleep is compensated for on the other days of the week where he sleeps for extended hours. He earns around Rs 600 a day which amounts to just Rs 1500 to Rs 1800 a week and a maximum of Rs 7000 per month. I asked him as to why he didn’t opt for a full-time driver’s job where his working hours could be just between 8 am and 7 pm or so and he can easily earn a minimum Rs 15000. After all, he is not the owner of the vehicle that he drives. He told me that he would explore that option and there will be offers. He mentioned that he got an offer to drive a water tanker vehicle very close to his house. The earning potential was good. I asked him why he didn’t opt for it and spot came the reply ‘If I drive to earn, it should be only a car. I can’t take a step down now and drive a water tanker vehicle to make my living’. This brought a smile on my face and taught me a lesson as well.

Simple lesson, money is not the only motivating factor for all, there are other aspects as well….at all levels.

A good ride ended with a lesson.

Don’t do something just for the sake of additional money, you need to enjoy it and have some pride as well. Choose the right company to work even if the package is not high, ensure the company you work with gives you empowerment, joy and respect.

Lessons are around us.