Thank you, Uber!
I am thankful to Uber India for the change that they have brought to my city.
Everyone in my hometown Pune, India, is aware of the sorry state of public transportation. Buses are always flooded with people. To make things worse, the autorickshaws had a reputation of duping passengers by charging them an unregulated amount of fairs, denying them to go to certain areas in the city, demanding exorbitant money if it's a late-night, and all this with zero guarantees of safety. Of course, there are some honest people in this profession, but all in all, Pune hated Autorickshaws. The situation was so hopeless that one day out of sheer frustration, I wrote my heart out on my blog[1].
I Came to Uber around 2014. I am absolutely sure that it is the best thing happened to my city in decades. Uber bought safety, regulation, and reliability and moreover, they took head-on with the Autorickshaw unions who were absolutely indifferent to their customers and only cared for the welfare of the Rikshawwallas.
When Uber started their service, I was happy to see the change but somewhere in my mind, sadly, I knew that it was not going to last. The Autorickshaw unions along with their leaders started to create problems for Uber through their protests and occasionally threatening the drivers. I had experienced it myself at Pune Railway Station how the cab driver was almost manhandled for parking the cab in the designated drop-off area.
I thought Uber will succumb to the system and will leave the country just like many frustrated Indians tired of the system.
But, after 3 years, of going through so many ups and downs, threats to their existence, protests [2]from their own drivers, and ploys to blame mishaps from the drivers on Uber, Uber survived. It penetrated the impossible Indian red tape and has brought a culture that I could have only dreamt of a few years ago.
The drivers are polite. They have a rating system in place. They cannot charge passengers arbitrarily. They go wherever the customer wants because denying trips cost them their rating and in turn incentives and rewards. The rates are reasonable and the service is quite reliable. It's safe as we can track the trips on our phones. Not just the passengers, whenever I talked to the drivers, they told me how Uber has improved their lives. It basically rewards hard-working and nice people.
There are still some problems but it is mostly due to a driver with a bad attitude.
I am not saying that Uber is perfect, but the way they persisted in the system is so unrewarding to the professionals, it is unbelievable what they have accomplished.
They have improved the lives of everyone and particularly the middle class which 100s of billions of dollars of philanthropy could not have done.
Take these examples.
1. Often I book a cab for my mother or wife if they want to go somewhere sitting in my office. It has saved me a lot of leaves.
2. I don't have to deal with the Autorickshaws. I absolutely hated their unprofessional behavior.
3. Recently my uncle-aunt came to Pune Railway station at 3 in the morning. We live 25 km away. If it was 3 years ago, we absolutely had no choice but to go and receive them. But thanks to Uber, they came home on their own after my cousin booked Uber for them. The rent - it was Rs.315. If it was any Autowalla in pre-Uber days, he would have easily charged a thousand rupees. To top that they would have done it as if doing us a favor.
4. I am sure this must be appreciated even by people in the US or Europe, that Uber has basically made a chauffeur service affordable to all.
5. OLA Cabs - a worthy rival of Uber in India brought in innovations like share-ride which basically is a form of carpooling. Uber introduced its own version and it saves money big time.
I had a bit of an opinion that the big companies were evil. But tech giants like Uber and Google (Google must have done most good for the whole of humanity, but it's for another time) have proved that they are here to do good. Even though I am unaware of the tactics they must have deployed in India, and don't even care if they did it by hook or crook, I feel thankful to Uber. They mercilessly fought their way through the ever-sluggish Indian bureaucracy and vote bank politics and established themselves strongly. They essentially broke the wheel.
I feel thankful for the nation of the United States that they have an environment for nurturing entrepreneurs and tech companies that are ready to risk and break the status quo. They are bringing betterment not only in the US but to the entire world. I am not sure if the capitalists are doing it intentionally, but sure enough, some smart and nice men behind the facades of generating heavy profits are actually working to make the world a better place.
Occasionally, people might have issues with US-style capitalism, but when I see how it has improved our lives, I just remember a passage from the novel "Kite Runner" by Khaled Husseini which my mind accepts but the heart always find tough to swallow-
Baba would enlighten me with his politics during those walks with long-winded dissertations. "There are only three real men in this world, Amir," he'd say. He'd count them off on his fingers: America the brash savior, Britain, and Israel. "The rest of them – " he used to wave his hand and make a phht sound " – they're like gossiping old women."
_*_
The above post was a part of my answer on the question on Quora around Nov 2018- What are you strangely thankful for?
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