He spent his first eight years here as a personal driver, but now thinks taxi driving is the better job for him. As we make our way downtown, he tells us it’s not very often that his passengers talk to him.
What They Left Behind: Abu Dhabi's Taxi Drivers
Yet another hot, humid Abu Dhabi day. Impatiently we stand outside the Welcome Center, drops of sweat sliding down our backs, as we await our taxi cab. ...
Oct 17, 2015
Yet another hot, humid Abu Dhabi day. Impatiently we stand outside the Welcome Center, drops of sweat sliding down our backs, as we await our taxi cab. Once it pulls up in front of us, we rush to the door and take our seats with synchronized sighs: the relief that comes with air conditioning.
Anxious with our notepads and camera in place, we greet the taxi driver with an enthusiastic hello. His reply is just as cheerful, and accompanied by a wide smile. We are in the taxi with Amir Zeb, a friendly man who has been in the UAE for 16 years.
He spent his first eight years here as a personal driver, but now thinks taxi driving is the better job for him. As we make our way downtown, he tells us it’s not very often that his passengers talk to him.
Amir reveals he is still a Pakistani at heart, although he does consider Abu Dhabi home now. He is glad to be one of the older taxi drivers here, since it distinguishes him from other drivers. Over the course of his job, he has encountered all kinds of passengers, from funny drunk foreigners who insist on playing the radio at maximum volume, to scary passengers who pressure him to break traffic rules.
Like most other taxi drivers we met, his reason for leaving home was to provide for his family. Being a taxi driver here is hard. He says the system doesn’t leave space for laziness or free time: “Sometimes you reach your limit, but you still have to take more passengers.” Despite the difficult decision he made in coming here, he has learned how to be rational and now appreciates being a part of this city.
According to Amir, taxi driving is a solitary job. He works in the confines of an air-conditioned car, belted against the seat’s backrest day after day. So when a passenger strikes up a conversation, it’s usually a pleasant surprise.
There are many other drivers in the city with stories like Amir’s, ones they have kept to themselves. On one small adventure around the city, we had the pleasure of speaking to a few of them.
Ganesh Khatri, Nepal
Age 30
Ganesh didn’t work as a taxi driver before coming to the UAE, but says his job here has a significantly higher pay than what he would have found back home. He misses his old life in Nepal, but tells us that his family in Nepal is all the motivation he needs to keep working here. His family is also the reason he uses his free time working as a medicine supplier.He tells us he went to an English-medium school back home, and that daily conversations in English here are good practice. More often than not, his passengers engage in languages he cannot understand. But when they talk in English or Nepali or Hindi, he usually strikes up a conversation.
In our short exchange, he tells us to believe in hard work. “No matter what you do,” he says. “If you work hard for it, even when you don’t like it, you will get a good outcome”.
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Kiruba Ganesh, Tamil Nadu, India
Age 34
Kiruba worked as a taxi driver back in India too, and was the proud owner of two taxis. However, the lack of passengers in his hometown was a problem, and it didn’t let him provide as much as he’d have liked for his young son and wife. So he sold one of his taxis, gave the other one to a colleague, and came to Abu Dhabi in pursuit of better opportunities.He says he thinks of his life in India a lot. He recalls the days when he started smoking back when he was getting a college degree, and assures us that taxi driving granted him a better future. In India, he lives in a small town where he knows almost everyone. He says he misses the faces of his loved ones, and that the lack of Skype and internet in his small town doesn’t make it any easier.
He cannot wait to go back for a visit this month. He wishes he could bring his wife and child here, but taxi drivers are usually not allowed family visas.
We ask him what he likes to do in his free time, but he only responds with a laugh. He’s usually very busy, so he just goes back to his room and sleeps when he gets the time. Kiruba thinks the system here is very strict relative to the easier hours in India.
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Dipesh Kumar K.C., Nepal
Age 37
Hard work is even harder in Abu Dhabi, where Dipesh has been for one year and where, each day, he must keep going until he makes the minimum 450 AED daily quota that his company requires. If he wants to go back to Nepal soon, he’ll have to exceed that, as his pay is a percentage of what he earns every day and the company is not responsible for buying his ticket.When asked about his family, he joyfully recalls his 15-year-old daughter in the eleventh grade, and an 11-year-old son in the fifth grade. His fondness for them is not only reflected in the smile on his face, but also in his pride over their academic achievements. There is a tone of melancholy as he remembers; he tells us the only thing that keeps him going is listening to his wife’s reassurances on the phone.
He married her by means of a family arrangement 17 years ago, when he was 20. He was already driving a public bus at the time. He tells us that he considers himself the most fortunate man, due to the faith and trust his wife and him still have in each other.
For most of us, a taxi ride is simply a mode of transport, connecting us from one point on our maps to another. But to a taxi driver, it can be more: a chance to make some jokes, talk about home or simply have a conversation worth remembering. As they weave through the labyrinthine streets of Abu Dhabi, they encounter new messages on their screens for new customers and, maybe, new stories.
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