Good To Great

“Guptabhai, idhar aao. Ye lo tumhara 500 rupaya.” This is what I hear every day before leaving. I am a personal driver. Along with driving I buy things for the house and wash the car every day. I charge only 500 for this. Many of my competitors charge 800 to 1000 for this. The owner of the house which I go to is Karthik Rao the personal manager of Akhilesh Kumar. The whole country’s richest man. Isn’t that a big deal?

One day, as usual, I had completed all the work and I was going to sleep. At that time my phone rang. I got annoyed. I hastily dragged myself towards the phone. It was Karthik Rao. I got worried. Him? At this hour of the night? Surely something is not right. Thinking so I picked up the phone. But that call changed my life.

Mr. Rao told me to come in my best dress tomorrow as there is a very important guest coming to their house tomorrow. Saying so the man cut the phone. I was left to wonder who that guest was and why I had to wear my best dress for a guest. Let anybody come. After all, it is not our house that they are coming to. All I have to do is wear my best dress and do my daily routine. Thinking carelessly as I went to bed.

Next day

From the back of my cupboard I took out my best perfume and I sprayed it. I combed my hair my best, had my breakfast and I was ready to go to work. I had to run to catch the first bus. As it was morning there was no hurry. After 20 minutes I got down. You have to walk only for 2 minutes to reach Mr. Rao’s house.

The gate was cleaned today and I could easily spot it from quite far. It must be a really important guest, I thought. As soon as I entered the compound I saw a luxurious Rolls-Royce parked there with 2 security guards with a machine-gun each. One of them came up to me and asked who I was. Before I could reply Mr. Rao showed up and asked the guards to allow me in. Then he spoke something to me but I was not paying attention before I stood Akhilesh Kumar.

Mr. Rao smiled and asked me to come in. He said that I had to go to the market and by some groceries and come. I did as I was told. After I returned he said that after 45 minutes we will be going out to take a round of the city. But the thing that got me excited that Mr. Kumar was coming with us and we were going in his car. I had never driven a Rolls-Royce before. In fact, this was the first time I was actually seeing one. I took rest for some time and then I got into the car to get an idea of what it was. I was amazed seeing its luxury. It’s time to go. Mr Rao called from inside. I quickly started the car. Although they were some slight differences, I was able to understand and adapt quickly. We went to the city and in many places. Finally, we returned and had dinner and I went to my house.

The next morning when I reached there Mr. Kumar was still there. For some reason, he was smiling. Then Mr. Rao spoke up. “Congratulations you have been selected as the personal driver of the country’s richest man.” I felt like fainting. Tears of joy ran down my cheeks.

3 months later

Now I am working at Akhilesh Kumar’s house. I earn almost 5 times my old salary. He said that the city trip was just a test. Many times when he stepped out and I was alone in his car, he had purposefully kept his wallet inside to see if I was reliable. There were many more such incidences in the city trip. I had passed the test with honesty.