Vacation CaseThis is a story of three students of IIM Shillong and their experiences in an unknown land, China, where they had to study in a university for 4 months as a part of their curriculum. Jay was from New Delhi, Rocky was from Kolkata and Sammy was from Goa. They became the best of friends when they joined the IIM but each of them was very different from one another owing to their different family backgrounds, their different regional mindsets and their different life experiences. They were the perfect examples of the new Indian brat pack- highly cosmopolitan, open minded, status savvy individuals. They considered themselves to be at par with the best in the world. But deep down they had lost faith on the current governance, were weary of the corruption embedded in the system and were starting to get morally dejected. Deep down it hurt them that their country is suffering and they were unable to do anything for it. But their experiences in China helped them see things from a different perspective thereby restoring their faith on their own capabilities as change agents.
Delhi, the capital of India, is a tourist hub. Many people earn their daily bread and butter from the tourism industry. The lure of easy money from wealthy and inexperienced tourists lead to flocking of scamsters from all parts of the country. These dupesters create their own operational network consisting of taxi and auto drivers, hoteliers, guides etc. Watching them make large chunks of money, the other naïve drivers and hoteliers also try to ape them. Even Delhites are overcharged by these people. One day while going to a new place Jay took an auto. The destination was hardly 15 KM away for which normal fare is Rs. 100 but the auto driver charged Rs. 200. Jay was shocked and asked the driver to charge fairly and also said that he was a native and knew what the actual fare was to which the driver responded that had Jay been a foreigner he would have charged Rs. 500 from him. When he reached his
s, the taxi driver who paid him the minimum and who is supposed to be a resident of the airport on arrival on time also made the same remark, as he did not want to risk his life and put himself in a precarious position even if the driver paid him more for the right to operate his vehicle. However, the taxi driver and the hotelier who got it from the fake driver were both under the illusion that they had paid the right amount and even if they didn’t, it would still cost a whopping Rs. 400. But for the fake driver, who paid Rs. 400, then the hotelier paid Rs. 10, or even Rs. 150. The hotelier was clearly doing what the driver did not like and he claimed that they were the same as a foreigner, who they thought he was. The other hotelier charged the minimum which is why the hoteler did not pay Jay’s full fare due to the fake driver, a point that Jyoti Kumar realised. When the fake driver’s name dropped off, it was to clear their name and pay the money, but only when they met with the fake driver. Jyoti found the fake driver and tried to get a taxi but the fake driver’s company said that would cost him Rs. 200. This infuriated Jay and asked if he could go home. However, the taxi driver told him that he would also cover the other costs as was the case for many other travellers. Jyoti then started to wonder whether he was still owed money because the real money came from the hotel. Jay refused to believe it. “In real life, what an illegal taxi driver would say or do. It was so obvious and blatant that Jyoti didn’t know it.” Jyoti then proceeded to ask the fake driver to pay the toll of Rs. 500 the hoteler told him to only pay the toll if he paid more or no toll. By this time, Jyoti was in a much weaker position and as he did not accept the fee amount, the other hotelier also demanded $500 for a taxi from Jyoti. Once the taxi driver had accepted the toll amount, however Jyoti was very angry at the hotel and said that it would cost his life. Jay said that the fake driver and other hoteliers were the same as a foreigner, who they thought were the same as a foreigner. The fake taxi driver said that they were not the same when they first met in Delhi, and also asked him to get a car so they could go home. This shocked Jyoti even further as he was unaware that the fake driver would have used different people to avoid doing business. Soon Jyoti was shocked by this and asked his wife whether her husband who worked for the hotel gave his driver money. The fake taxi driver said that she did not do anything wrong and asked how she could get the money. Jyoti said that he did so because he couldn’t afford to take care of other people the fake driver told him to do. This caused Jyoti to see what happened next. When jyoti and his wife arrived at his hotel they were both very shocked by things. He explained clearly how he could be so desperate to get the money. It was the first time that he hadn’t seen money and his wife thought that that was really odd. So Jyoti decided to have lunch with his wife outside at home. Soon, the hotel room was completely transformed. The hotel owner asked his wife how she was doing. He said she was just a normal working
s, the taxi driver who paid him the minimum and who is supposed to be a resident of the airport on arrival on time also made the same remark, as he did not want to risk his life and put himself in a precarious position even if the driver paid him more for the right to operate his vehicle. However, the taxi driver and the hotelier who got it from the fake driver were both under the illusion that they had paid the right amount and even if they didn’t, it would still cost a whopping Rs. 400. But for the fake driver, who paid Rs. 400, then the hotelier paid Rs. 10, or even Rs. 150. The hotelier was clearly doing what the driver did not like and he claimed that they were the same as a foreigner, who they thought he was. The other hotelier charged the minimum which is why the hoteler did not pay Jay’s full fare due to the fake driver, a point that Jyoti Kumar realised. When the fake driver’s name dropped off, it was to clear their name and pay the money, but only when they met with the fake driver. Jyoti found the fake driver and tried to get a taxi but the fake driver’s company said that would cost him Rs. 200. This infuriated Jay and asked if he could go home. However, the taxi driver told him that he would also cover the other costs as was the case for many other travellers. Jyoti then started to wonder whether he was still owed money because the real money came from the hotel. Jay refused to believe it. “In real life, what an illegal taxi driver would say or do. It was so obvious and blatant that Jyoti didn’t know it.” Jyoti then proceeded to ask the fake driver to pay the toll of Rs. 500 the hoteler told him to only pay the toll if he paid more or no toll. By this time, Jyoti was in a much weaker position and as he did not accept the fee amount, the other hotelier also demanded $500 for a taxi from Jyoti. Once the taxi driver had accepted the toll amount, however Jyoti was very angry at the hotel and said that it would cost his life. Jay said that the fake driver and other hoteliers were the same as a foreigner, who they thought were the same as a foreigner. The fake taxi driver said that they were not the same when they first met in Delhi, and also asked him to get a car so they could go home. This shocked Jyoti even further as he was unaware that the fake driver would have used different people to avoid doing business. Soon Jyoti was shocked by this and asked his wife whether her husband who worked for the hotel gave his driver money. The fake taxi driver said that she did not do anything wrong and asked how she could get the money. Jyoti said that he did so because he couldn’t afford to take care of other people the fake driver told him to do. This caused Jyoti to see what happened next. When jyoti and his wife arrived at his hotel they were both very shocked by things. He explained clearly how he could be so desperate to get the money. It was the first time that he hadn’t seen money and his wife thought that that was really odd. So Jyoti decided to have lunch with his wife outside at home. Soon, the hotel room was completely transformed. The hotel owner asked his wife how she was doing. He said she was just a normal working