Palace on Wheels - A ride to remember.

Palace on Wheels - A ride to remember.

Welcome to my first travel blog. Well it's not exactly a travel related blog. It's just my experience while travelling in the streets of Mumbai.

Mumbai, the city of dreams. Everyone travels around the country, may be even the world, to make a name for themselves. Some succeed and some just pack their dreams and travel back. But in between all these dreams was a dream of a man. A man who called himself the King of Bandra.
Before you get into a conclusion that this story is a Mahesh Bhatt or a Ram Gopal Varma thriller on underworld, let me tell you the story is of a rickshawala who in Mumbai is popularly known as the Sandip Bachche, who also calls himself as MunnaBhai SSC or the King of Bandra .

I did not really get into the details of why he called himself MunnaBhai SSC, but the day I would meet him again, that's one question that is definitely going to be in my priority list.

So what makes him special? Why am I dedicating this blog to an auto rickshawala. The kind of people who always want to travel according to their convenience. The kind of people who go on strikes every 6 months to increase their fares, causing a lot of problems for us. The same kind of people who stare at you through the mirror when you are making out with your partner in the rickshaw. :P

What makes him special is that he I assume doesn't belong to this league. The only reason I'm writing about him, is because of the way he is. Sandip Bachche has been covered by almost 25 magazines, 5 news channels and many bloggers around the world. He also has his photo clicked with Salman Khan.

My journey with Sandip Bachche began when I took the rickshaw from Santacruz to Andheri. I entered the rickshaw with two of my friends. Casually chatting with my friends, I first noticed a magazine box. His red magazine box said One Man Show. The box had a few magazines and newspapers in it.

The magazines quickly grabbed my attention and was followed by the STD/ISD/PCO next to the rickshaw meter. Wow! Definitely wow! Imagine your battery dies while travelling in the night and you have to reach your parents. What better than this? It wasn't just a show piece it real did work. That is definitely impressive. It just got curious to know more this rickshawala. He started talking about himself and brag a little about what he has done and achieved in his life. Trust me it was definitely worth of time to listen to him on how he came up with this thing.

I expected more coming my way. The front side of the rickshaw had a small TV attached to a DVD player and the movie ''Welcome'' was playing on it. #Entertaining especially when you are travelling with boring friends. What it also has was a paper, which had the current gold, silver, rupees and dollar prices. Keeping everyone updated. #Intelligent

So what else did he have in this rickshaw? Okay, hold your breath now. Here it goes.

To his right: A sign board that said Mobile Charger available. Followed by a photo where he was honored by some community (if I'm not wrong). He has a bottle of water and a fire extinguisher. What was also interesting in the sign board was it said, '' 7-10am only devotional songs'', ''You can put your donations behind'', ''Wife hai toh life hai'' and ''No smoking Mamu'' and the sign board ended with ''Manav seva hi eshwar seva hai'' and also ''This is your auto keep it clean''.
This rickshawala has values. How many rickshawalas actually had values except for their sign boards behind their rickshaws which said ''maa ki dua or Ragini ka mms dekha kya.''


What then got my attention was when his board said, ''You can put your donations behind''
I quickly looked back to check if he actually had a donation box. In bold capital it said, '' donation box take one sweet.'' Which meant every time your donated some money and stuffed it inside that small red piggy bank of his, you could take a chocolate which was kept next to the piggy bank. SWEET!

These things just excited me further. Without wasting further time, I turned to my left. It again started with ''Mobile recharge available'' followed by a sign board which said,
Name: Sandeep Bachche.
Followed by his license number and batch number.
Working time: 8 am to 1 pm.
After lunch: 3 pm to 9 pm
I am staying: Khar Danda
Hum bhi Insaan hai
Thank you for your co-operation.

What followed next just took my heart away. For the first time I respected a rickshaw-wala from the bottom of my heart. There was a sign board which said,

Handicapped person: 25% discount
Blind person:  30% discount
Just married couples: 10% discount

I inquired further and researched a little and came to know that Sandeep Bachche gives a free ride to blind people for a fare up to 50 Rupees. #Respect

My ride came to an end. Normally with the kind of image you have of rickshaw drivers in Mumbai, you would be expecting him to charge you more. But to my surprise, the meter was normal and no extra cost for the entertainment.

Really in a city like Mumbai, when you really want the world to know you, Sandip Bachche/Munnabhai SSC has made his presence felt and yet being a very humble person. If you ever get a chance to travel in his rickshaw, thank him for being a genuine rickshaw driver.

If you liked or disliked my experience you can let me know here or on Facebook or on twitter @upsidedakshin . Thank you :D