I landed in Bengaluru an hour past midnight. I had to stay at my friend’s place which is roughly 45 kms from the Kempegowda International Airport.
I grabbed my luggage, booked an uber and finally started the hour long journey. I fell asleep after a fifteen minute conversation with the driver as I flew out of Pune after a hectic work day.
Somewhere before the Krishnarajapuram Railway Station, I woke up feeling fresh and in a couple of minutes, I realised that the cab was drifting towards the right and would hit and fly over the wall. In a fraction of a second I realized the driver was sleeping and I screamed so loudly that he came back to his senses and regained control of the vehicle. I was shit scared and asked him to pull over.
When asked, he told me he was online for 30 hours and chasing some target set by Uber for some bonus money. I suggested him to sleep whilst I’d drive the car because we were still halfway and I was feeling fresh. He asked me if I had a driving license and I then proceeded to drive the car. I followed the navigation route and reached my friend’s place.
The next conversation marks the strangest (and hilarious) experience:
Me: Bhaiyya uth jaiye,destination pe pohoch gaye! (Brother wake up, we have reached the destination )
Driver: Thank you bhaiyya, payment online ho jaega aur mai aapko 5 star rate karunga! (Thank you bro, I will do the payment online and rate you five stars!)
I was like WTF! Is he so sleepy that his subconscious thought I was the Uber driver and he was the customer!
Me: Gadi apki hai, aap so rahe the isliye mai chala raha tha! (It’s your car, I was driving it because you were sleepy)
Driver: (Coming back to his sense) Sorry bhaiyya, me uber ka customer bhi hoon aur kaafi bar use bhi karta hun. Thank you for your cooperation! (Sorry brother, I am an Uber customer and avail the services quite often)
I am sure this would be the strangest experience in both mine and his Uber experience. Also, I can say that I was Uber driver for 45 minutes in my life.
Edit (12/05/2017):
- Lot of comments are suggesting that maybe the driver was indicating about the rating that he is supposed to give me. He wasn’t, my conversation with him clearly stated otherwise.
- I have reported the ride to Uber for multiple reasons:
- The risk involved in the ride.
- The driver made me pay the toll on the highway that connects the city and the airport which my friend later told me, the driver was supposed to pay.