John's World...Ola



One's sitting in Paradise on the couch. You decide, “I need to to go Korumangala to buy a few things and catch a movie”. You don’t have a car. BUT- you have an app that you press and car and professional driver show up at your doorstep in minutes. You know what the cost is ahead of time and all you have to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

The problem is we don’t live in Paradise and we are stuck with Ola.

One of my favorite lines in a movie comes from Anchorman. While referring to the “success” rate of a cologne named “Sex Panther”, Brian Fantana (played by Paul Rudd) insists that:
“67% of the time, it works all of the time”





That’s Ola.

In theory, it’s a great concept. Features that are comparable to Uber. A range that covers more places. You can even rent a rickshaw. Yet this ride sharing service drives me nuts.


I’ve had nearly a third of my drives cancelled. In fact, just yesterday, I rented an Ola, Brinda and the kids GOT in the car and the driver told them to get out. He claimed he didn’t feel like driving that far...


Wtf


We have had drivers refuse to use their gps systems so you have to use yours, stop and eat breakfast while you sit in the car, and have more than one ask us to sponsor their visas to the United States. Many, MANY others have had the same experiences if not worse.

In the US, this company would go out of business in months. No one would put up with this. Too many complaints to police, attorney generals, and social media would destroy them or make them change their ways.

Not here.

In essence, Ola is a microcosm of something that has been a maddening part of India for me for a long time. Inefficient, labor thick organizations, full of people doing their jobs poorly. Why?

Why is this tolerated?


This very same topic has come up across several conversations with friends here. The general consensus is that, in an odd way, it’s enjoyable. It’s a battle you wake up everyday and fight. You press the button on that glossy app and have no idea what will happen.

Will they come?

Will they be rude?

Will they get lost?

Will the car break down on the side of the road?

To an Indian there is a thrill to this. Everyday is like opening Pandora’s box. You don’t know what will happen. You don’t simply work your way up the organization and demand to talk to managers and expect coupons or credits for your suffering. That doesn’t exist here. You are compensated by allowing to battle. To fight.

In short, you get to make each day as unpredictable as the last.

Maybe that transcends the more than occasional missed ride or broken plumbing.

That’s all I have for today. I have a ride to catch...or not.

Comments

  1. Devidas TahilianiApril 21, 2019 at 11:49 AM

    Nice write up John. That is Life not only in India but through out the World.
    Even Bhagvat Gita says - "Life is a Struggle - Fight it"

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John's World...Jeeva Hop Garden

Image
The day has finally come.  I had been thinking about this for almost a year.  Of course it's beer related.  HOPS... Hops grown here in India.  Our friend Arjun had suggested spending his time at his family's foundation Jeevarathni.  Jeevarathni  is an organization working to improve the lives of economically and emotionally deprived children, specially abled children and the aged living in poverty and injustice.  We brainstormed some ideas to help the foundation and came up with a hop garden. For those of you who don't know or have not gone through the Sam Adams Brewery Tour a few hundred times, hops are essentially what gives beer its flavor.  There are close to one hundred hop varieties now in existence.  Combine those hops at different stages in the brewing process and you will have a unique beer unto-itself.   For various reasons, India has never really had a significant amount of hop production.  The weat...
Read more

John’s world...habits

Image
One of the things I’m most interested in dicovering when I travel abroad are the habits I engage in after the trip.  Some are short lived.  Some involve a gadget I bring back.  Some become an integral part of who I am.  Years ago I was in Mexico and I noticed the friends I was staying with would drink their water out of a clay pot.  They told me  that it keeps the water naturally cool and removed toxins (like many things apparently do).  So of course I brought a giant clay pot with me back to the United States.  The habit was short lived.  I drank water out of the pot for two weeks and regifted it to someone as a wedding present.  I called it a wedding pot even (I’m terrible and if I gave you that pot please post that I’m a bad person in the comment section). I had coffee for the first time in Spain.  I prop my foot on the bar at a pub like a proper local in Britain would posture themselves.  Habits that have lasted....
Read more

Farmhouse Retreat

Image
My class on Education Policy and Decentralisation took a field trip to a village. One of the students, Sanjeet, was kind enough to offer his farmhouse for all of us to stay at the night before. Sanjeet has an amazing story which I will save for another post. Briefly though, for 20 years or so he worked in the corporate world and decided to leave his job and enter in the MA program at Azim Premji University. His family runs a school in a village outside Bangalore and he wanted to learn more about education in India and put his talents to good use in the social sector. There was about 15 of us including my Professor, Dr. Paik. This class is more like a community and how they interact with each other, with me, and our Professor is a case study in itself. Right from day 1 of the class, I felt the warmth, kindness, and enthusiasm from each one of them. The farmhouse adventure is a testament to their true generosity and compassion. We left the campus around 5:30pm on this bus th...
Read more