My Uber Story

Owning or having a car, to me, is more about utility than luxury. Point A to Point B.

I started off with a #Maruti 800, which I used a lot. Later I upgraded to a Honda City 10th anniversary version, which I kept immaculately (after all.. I'm a Bawa!). Initially I self drove, as my office was relatively near and I didn't feel the need for a driver. But when I got into my start-up, AppsDaily, my commute time became considerably longer, and eventually I hired a driver. With the driver’s salary+bonus+petrol+toll (not to mention the driver’s nakhras), I used to run up a bill of 50k to maintain that car. This went on for about a year and a half, after which he came to me one day asking for 3 months off to renovate his house. After he left, initially I was flustered - I tried to find a driver, to no avail. Soon enough, necessity prevailed and I realised Uber was a good option, so I jumped onto the Uber Bandwagon.  

I enjoyed the ease of the app, and I thoroughly enjoyed the stories from the drivers. They felt good when I spoke to them and I wanted to hear their stories. Each driver had a different story as to why he became an Uber Driver. Some guys did it for dignity of labour. Another was a middle income business owner who had a fleet of 5 cars, and would jump into the role of a driver when necessary. Some guys got a per trip fee, while others were driving their own cars - the true concept of Uber. I learnt a lot from these hard working enterprising men. 

After a month of Uber-ing, I was pleasantly shocked to find the commute bill of My Car vs Uber had come down considerably from 50K to barely 18K! At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but it went on like this for months. I just loved every aspect of Ubering.

Then one fine day my driver called and said he was ready to come back. I said sorry, and we parted ways. I was an Uber Junkie by then and I was enjoying the special touches every driver had to offer. Be it water bottles, biscuits, free wifi, an aux cable for my music, etc. -each driver wanted you to have a unique experience and went out of his way to ensure you got it.

This went on for almost 2 years while I was at AppsDaily, until I moved on and joined Shemaroo, and even then, I used to religiously book my ride to work. Until about a year or two ago, when I booked an Uber and the driver told me if this was my daily route, he was happy to come and pick me up every day, just between us, outside of Uber. I said, perfect, but I’ll pay you what I pay Uber. We struck a deal and it’s been 2 years since that day. He comes and picks me up, and if I can't make it on any given day I just say “Aaj Nahi”. If he can't make it, he says ‘Aaj Nahi”. It's a simple formula - when he comes, he gets paid. I sign a sheet of paper and we settle on a monthly basis. 

The good thing about this gentleman is that he’s very down to earth, humble, and extremely satisfied in life. He’s very hard working not over the top ambitious, but knows what he wants and how to get it. We’ve built a great rapport during our journey. We talk about his personal life and his son. His name is Vinayak, I call him Vinu. Sometimes I need him to wait, while I jump from meeting to meeting, and he patiently waits, happy to accommodate my crazy schedules. That's the kind of relationship we've built. 

The thing I’ve learnt over the years, and put into practice daily, is that when you respect people from all stratas of life, you start peeling away the layers...be it socio-economic or religious, and get at the core - that in the end, we are all individuals, humans; running the same rat race. Some rats just have more privilege. When you break those barriers and communicate on an equal level, everyone feels more comfortable. And that's what I've built with Vinu over the years. 

I put it out in the universe that I wanted the same situation for my return journey every day. Enter Shri- Shripad. He started off with one word answers and slowly opened up to me. He’s very sharp and enterprising. Much younger than Vinu, in his early 20’s, and very ambitious. Wants to learn about business, so when I’m not on a call, I answer all his questions about a variety of topics. He’s a fan of Justin Beiber and EDM, so I get to hear some nice music on my way home. He lands up at office, sends me a whatsapp, and waits if necessary, patiently. At first, he wasn't comfortable with the monthly payment, so we eased into it. Now I pay both Vinu and Shri once a month.

The Honda City I owned was replaced by a Wagon R which my wife (and her driver) use for herself and our son.

I still Uber it to and from work. It doesn't faze me when my coworkers remark that their COO comes in an Uber, as opposed to the luxury cars that most senior officers drive. It takes me from home to office in comfort and with great company. I don't feel the need to show status and success though material things. For me it's about experiences, people, humility. Growing and taking others and growing with them.

As you climb the ladder, every day put yourself on the lower rungs and see how it looks from there, rather than how it looks from the top. Not to brag, but these things naturally come to me with a sense of humility.

This is me. Zubin Dubash, Uber traveller.