Recently Taz wrote about a “dreamy” new he-ro on television that in reality is just an act-or. Via our News Tab I’d like you all to focus your attention instead on a real hero. The Hill profiles Mohinder Singh, “The most trusted cabbie of Capitol Hill.” He is mild-mannered, works in the shadows, and always gets the job done.
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Rule #1. Never change the deal. Transportation is a precise business. |
Unlike some cab drivers in Washington, Mohinder Singh is not easily riled. No matter if passengers rob him. No matter if they swear at him in a drunken stupor.
“I never fight with a customer,” he says, through a thick Indian accent. “There’s no use to fighting. If someone says, ‘You son of a bitch,’ I say ‘Thank you.’ You cannot make me mad easily…” [Link]
Bruce Banner could learn a thing or two about anger management from Mohinder.
But Singh, 56, clean-cut in a white oxford shirt and khakis, is no typical cabbie. [Link]
Of course! Would I have bothered writing a post about him if that is all he was?
In the past several years, however, Singh has hit a stride, accumulating a famous D.C. clientele that takes him to the homes of some of Washington’s political elite who include Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean (better known to Singh as “Mr. Howard,”) former Texas Gov. Ann Richards and Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.)…<
p>Singh says he accumulated his clientele accidentally. One day he picked up a woman from Southeast who needed to be driven to American University. She told him how hard it was for her to get a cab. So he gave her his number, and for seven to eight months he drove her whenever she called.
“I didn’t know who she was,” he says, explaining that he later found out that she worked for the DNC. The next thing he knew, word traveled fast and Dean’s people came calling. [Link]
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p>Let the record show that Ennis suggested that I title this post “Driving Mr. DNC.”
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p>Just like Jason Statham, a good wheel man needs more than just driving skills. He needs to be skilled in martial arts and be an all around bad ass mother&^#! who gets the job done:
He calls Dean a “big shot” politician. “I feel good driving someone of that rank,” he says. “He’s a good man, really nice man. He’s busy, always on the phone. He always introduces me. He called me his ‘personal bodyguard.‘” [Link]
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p>I think Mohinder just made up the following story to down-play his skillz. If he makes too many headlines then Karl Rove will inevitably try to enlist Mohinder as an RNC driver.
He enjoys driving a cab even on the tough days, such as the one when a group of kids entered his cab and ran off without paying. Or when a drunken man tried to goad him into a fight, saying, “You see my muscles?” Singh replied, “I have no muscles. I make him happy…” [Link]
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p>Now let’s get to the dirty dirrrrty. We all know what sometimes happens in the back seats of cabs. Tell us the truth Mohinder. Has Dean ever, you know…in the back seat?
So does Dean ever get loud? Singh laughs, shakes his head uncomfortably and says: “I’m just busy driving my cab. No, he doesn’t get loud…” [Link]
I salute you Mohinder Singh. Next time you are in D.C., keep an eye out for Mohinder. He’s around.
Is it a coincidence that MY hero and YOUR hero both drive taxis and both have characters named Mohinder? i think not…! Actor, hero, geneticst professor, taxi driver, the point is my Mohinder/Sendhil is totally “dreamy.”
While reading your entry, I was thinking to myself, I wonder what fine literary establishment with the finest journalist in the capital would write about a taxi driver in just such a fine manner. That’s right, The Hill. (comparing the Hill to the Washington Post is like comparing UCLA college paper to the LA Times). I did notice The Hill does have a blog though. for Congressmembers to blog. [shaking my head and going back to editing my report]…
I take it that Sen. Conrad “terrorists drive taxis by day and kill at night” Burns isn’t on the list?
Just as I always suspected, Dean’s most infamous public gesture was merely him channeling his inner diva in ode to The Bodyguard
All the best to you Singh-ji, but promise me this – never let him out of your sight. Never let your guard down. Never fall in love.
LoL at Kavita’s Bodyguard reference.
If Mohinder ever decides to get there, I’ll make him an honorary “Drrrty Poonjabi.”
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blockquote Bruce Banner could learn a thing or two about anger management from Mohinder
Hopefully he’s not the quiet deadly kind like fellow cabbie Travis “You talkin’ to me?” Bickle 🙂
Cool. After reading all these stories about these desi high-fliers, I was getting really depressed. Getting on in years, owl glasses, stupid programming job with no future. Whewwwww there do exist average desis doing regular jobs.
You go, Mr. Karma Yogi!
..but a typical uncle. Hooray for uncles.
Which of these has a high percentage of high-powered readers? 🙂
If someone says, ‘You son of a bitch,’ I say ‘Thank you.’ You cannot make me mad easily…
That is the attitude that got India conquered in the first place.
…and the same attitude that kicked the British out, too.
Hee hee hee.
Ok, it’s a slow morning over here in the Bay area.
hooray mr. singh!!
has anyone seen the movie about South Asian taxi drivers in the post-9/11 world? i forgot the name and i really want to screen it for my students. My kids here in Oakland are the young men and women automatically feared by society, the so-called “bad kids”. A majority of my students are involved in the Juvenile Justice System for a variety of terrible reasons, some for having made poor choices, but most due to factors that were well beyond their control.
The sterotypes these students have been working against their whole lives have left them bruised and quick to lash out at anyone. We often talk about tolerance and respect, how to build and maintain both. Where do taxis play into this story? Not too long ago, I was taking the students on a field trip. One of my students saw an elderly Sikh gentleman driving a taxi. He was stopped at a light with his window down, and we were standing on the corner. My student turned to me and said “Ms. Y___! Call the FBI– there go Osama Bin Laden right now!” The other students began to laugh, but I silenced them with a look they hadn’t seen before. I think it was probably a mixture of pain, anger, pity, and humiliation. The light turned green, and the taxi drove away– I am still not certain whether the gentleman heard my students, I hope the din of surrounding traffic overpowered the laughter.
I walked the students to the nearest park in near-total silence. I made them stand in a circle, and I began to speak, my voice shaking with every word. I explained to my students how hurtful the words had been, talked to them about the post-9/11 backlash against South Asians including the murders in Arizona, then explained how promoting ignorant stereotypes only served to hold all people down. The students were mortified at their behavior– but most importantly, they began to see how they were treating that gentleman in the exact manner they loathed.
I want to show them the movie about the taxi drivers so that they continue to learn to empathize with all oppressed people who are feeling the strain of governments who refuse to acknowledge their basic human rights.
Well done, ylrsings. Amazing what a long way a little sincere talking can go.
um, not quite. lot of things happen to “kick the British out”, definitely NOT bending over and saying, “thank you sir, can i have another?”
Yeti.
Sorry, dude. I agree, many things came together to free India, and it’s simplistic and demeaning to say that “bending over” and saying “thank you sir, can I have another” was what made India independent, but…you’re just wrong.
Bose had his followers, there was plenty of armed insurrection and killing to make any militant nationalist proud, but…well, non-violent civil disobedience was a fairly significant contributor to Indian independence.
Or are you saying that it was the armed rebellion and insurrection in 1857 that is pseudo-eponymous with this blog that resulted in freedom for browns…South Asians…whatever…?
ylrsings – I’m so glad you were able to educate your students – hopefully they will spread the information to their friends.
Here’s the information on the movie you mentioned:
Punjabi Cab Directed by Liam Dalzell
It is being distributed by the Center for Asian American Media Here’s the direct link to the site.
salil: don’t you think the state of affairs in britain post ww-2 had more to do with the brits leaving than non-violent marches?
thanks for the info and link, sonia kaur!! and thanks for the kind words, kurma!
Jazz,
I deliberately didn’t give any of them any kind of subjective weights. I wasn’t there. I would certainly agree that a great many factors came into play, and one was that Britain after WWII was just too damn busy rebuilding to hold India down and choke the life from her, though a few select individuals certainly did try now and again.
My point was that non-violence did have something to do with India becoming a free country, and maybe even more importantly, in attaining one of the highest points of moral high ground in all of human history.
So kudos to the cabbie. My satirical photoshopped picture not withstanding, he’s got the right idea. Unlike this bastard.
salil: don’t you think the state of affairs in britain post ww-2 had more to do with the brits leaving than non-violent marches?
Yes and no.
The most important thing is the way British left. It did not become IndoChine or Algeria. They had figured that governing India was becoming impossible – all the crippling non-cooperation movement, and even the British Indian Army had started showing signs of being mutinous.
Clement Atlee, the post WW2 PM was committed to give India its independence, but Churchill and his followers (then out of power) were still adamant. When Mountbatten went to meet Churchill just before taking his assignment to India, he sat almost sullen for an hour.
The decolonization (freedom struggle) was not bloody for most part, sure, immediately after partition riots were. That (nonviolent freedom struggle) has had helped India to get on its feet and attempt to be a secular democracy, closely modeled after UK parliamentary system. It has had some serious hiccups but has done better than most of the countries freed at around that time.
Most important is the legacy that we seen in action even today in Myanmar.
Salil, Man that was one hell of a night for you! seriously tho, how many times have u been to the ‘pen?
Jeet:
Twice. Once barely counted, I was only in there for an hour, for driving on suspended license. But that’s another story for a meetup. 🙂
I wonder how many Mutineers have done time?
kush: i think the brits left because they wanted to, not because we wanted them to. the algerians on the other hand forced the issue for the french. the brits were tactful (unlike the french) by not imposing english/banning the local language/customs, so there was never a critical mass of indians that hated them so much as to resort to the algerian way. non-violence, while high on moral ground, would not physically eject them (assuming they really really wanted to stay).
A lot of things happened to lead to the Brits leaving. Yes, the noncooperation movement played a role in it. Bose played some role in it. There were also accounts of rural rebellions that happened at different times throughout British rule, as well as various smaller armed struggles by people such as Bhagat Singh, etc. Do most people know also that there was a massive naval mutiny in 1946? This was one of the killing blows. This may or may not count as “violent” but it was undoubtedly not a part of the overly worshipped Gandhian struggle.
The nonviolent noncooperation movement was a part of the freedom movement. That’s it. A part. Not the entirety of it, nor can you necessarily imply that it was somehow the most important element of it. And by saying “that’s the attitude that kicked the British out” you keep a certain myth going.
Yeti:
Funny that you should mention the naval mutiny. I was reading Eric Hobsbawm’s ‘The Age of Extremes(1914-1991)’ very recently, and it explicitly said the naval mutiny was the event that ‘convinced the British that, with the loss of control over the armed forces, their time was up in India’ (I paraphrase here). I was surprised because the mutiny plays almost no role in the official Independence movement narrative we hear in India.
Unfortunately the book gave no references for the conclusion; in fact, the remark was thrown in an offhand way, as if the fact was obvious. Also, Hobsbawm is a highly-respected non-partisan writer, so there is no reason to expect bias; so overall it just left me confused :(.
I never said it was the entirety of it. I took issue with the notion that turning the other cheek was somehow responsible for India being colonized in the first place. I said “non-violent civil disobedience was a fairly significant contributor to Indian independence.”
Y’all can hate on me and the Mahatma all you want. I can take it. Please sir, can I have another?
Salil, that was an incredible story!
I agree. However, many Indians feel that its contribution has been deliberately overrated…history is written by the winners, etc etc…Unfortunately sometimes they go to the other extreme and deny all credit to the non-violent movement…. The truth…as someone quoted Confucius recently…is probably somewhere in between…