Indian Taxis. It’s not for the Faint-hearted

After we pre-book an INR500 taxi for our hotel, the sales counter guy directs us to our taxi. It’s a Hyundai Santro, the maker of taxis in India it seems.The driver is a slim, middle age man. He might be a few years older than me but his weather-beaten face makes him look much older.Hyundai Santro don’t seem to have boot for suitcases. But they all have racks on their roof tops. My 7kg suitcase easily goes in the car with us. But Ben’s 15kg, bigger in size suitcase must go on the roof. The driver jokingly signalling me to heave Ben’s suitcase up on the roof. I might be younger or look stronger than him but in reality I can’t even uncap water bottles. Wrists problem.Our hotel name, located in Mumbai city centre does not sound familiar to him. After a noisy, dusty 1 hour drive, we get to the area nearby our hotel. Only that the area is super messy due to construction works for underground station, which is in progress.The driver refuses to go any further. Google map says our hotel is still about half a km away. When asked to drive closer to our hotel, he asks for INR100 extra. I know it’s not much but it’s just typical taxi drivers’ attitude. Mumbai taxi service is a few rungs behind Kuala Lumpur as the worst in the world. Not surprising at al.We get off the taxi, curse the driver and walk the last half km. Cursing.Taxi drivers in Mumbai mostly use meter. If they don’t, they’ll use it once we remind them. One or two will haggle. We walk away when they start quoting their fare.If you think only basket or fabric makers are the only experts at weaving, think again. Move over basket makers. Mumbai taxi and tuk tuk drivers rock at weaving. Lanes mean nothing to them or, even to other private motorists. They weave and can change a 3-lane street into 5 lanes. When behind wheels, their main aim is to be ahead of everybody else. They are very demanding in asking others to give way but stingy in giving way to others. Hence the constant beeping and honking. Everybody beeps. Nobody listens.Wonder not if most of vehicles in Mumbai are dented. My heart skips a beat, or two everytime our drivers weave or take over other vehicles. Luckily we never meet with any accident. Not once. Fingers crossed. Phew.