{"id":1135,"date":"2016-07-24T10:51:18","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T10:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:59:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:59:51","slug":"aamchi-mumbai-kaali-peeli-ola-uber-taxi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=1135","title":{"rendered":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p><\/div>

he pre-dawn roads are empty, but Mushtaq Bhai is driving carefully. In the grey morning light, I roll my window down and breathe in the smells of the city. At this hour, the city smells sweet.\n\nWhich is probably why, in spite of being an Uber slut, I have hailed this ancient metal box for my ride to the airport. A morning ride through the sleeping city is always a pleasure, and one doesn\u2019t really call an Uber for pleasure. One calls an Uber for air-conditioning and a driver who doesn\u2019t throw a bitch fit about your destination.\n\nMushtaq Bhai has been driving his taxi for 23 years. Without GPS. He\u2019s a taciturn, unsmiling gent of advanced years and I think I\u2019m annoying him with my chatter, but I persist. These much-maligned, battle-scarred charioteers, who flip from snarling sadhus to poet-philosophers, fascinate me. To me, these migrants from UP and Bihar, who know the city and its secrets better than I ever will, are a lot like Aravind Adiga\u2019s protagonist in The White Tiger <\/em>\u2013 invisibles who\u2019ve seen everything from furious fighting to desperate love-making in their rear view mirrors and lived to tell the tale. Life has played out in the furry, stained backseats of their taxis, and they\u2019ve borne witness.\n\nMy grandfather drove a taxi for a short while in the 1950s, a beat-up old Hindustan 14 with the plate BMR 1317. One night, he picked up a heavily pregnant woman and her frantic husband from outside their house in Vile Parle. The woman was in the backseat and screaming in pain and the man was sitting helplessly in front. My grandfather drove furiously to the Parel Hospital, not daring to look back until there was a final scream that made him pull over. Behind, in the backseat of his Hindustan 14, the baby had been born. Somehow, I can\u2019t picture this in an Uber. Company policy may strictly frown upon in-car deliveries.\n\nI ask Mushtaq Bhai about Uber. Would he swap his battered Fiat and drive a new app cab instead? His answer is a derisive snort followed by a categorical no. His legs may ache after a day of pressing on a hard clutch and the heat-spewing Fiat may become an oven in October, but no he\u2019s not going to swap. The kaali peeli, unlike the Uber, is everyman\u2019s ride and doesn\u2019t only serve people with smartphones and credit cards. He\u2019s right. The rich and the poor, the rocket scientist and the roadside romeo \u2013 everyone sits in this taxi. Much before the Mumbai marathon usurped the title, the kaali peeli was the great equaliser for the city. They just didn\u2019t have a brand campaign backing it.\n\n

There are 30,000 of us on the streets at any given hour. We don\u2019t need a smartphone, credit card, map, 4G-VG. Just lift your arm and yell \u2018Taxi\u2019 and we will be there.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nThere is poetry in the way Mushtaq Bhai sees his job that won\u2019t strike you, at least not in the rush hour. You will only see a grizzly, unsmiling old man driving a terribly outdated vehicle. But on this silent morning, we both have time to go beyond first impressions.\n\nMushtaq bhai is warming up to his theme. He points to the \u201calways there-ness\u201d of his kind of cab. \u201cThere are 30,000 of us on the streets at any given hour. We don\u2019t need a smartphone, credit card, map, 4G-VG. Just lift your arm and yell \u2018Taxi\u2019 and we will be there.\u201d Sure, I say. But then you won\u2019t go where we ask you to go, will you, I ask, referring to the 15,000 complaints<\/a> lodged with the Taxi Union. He looks sheepish, as if caught out.\u00a0 \u201cWe live in far away places. By the time I take my taxi, park it at Dadar, and take the train home to Bhayander, I can barely stand. At 8 pm if someone asks me to go to Malad, I just can\u2019t do it.\u201d\n\n\"Kaali\n

\n

The kaali peeli, unlike the Uber, is everyman\u2019s ride and doesn\u2019t only serve people with smartphones and credit cards. The rich and the poor, the rocket scientist and the roadside romeo \u2013 everyone sits in this taxi.<\/p>\n

Image Credit: Kuni Takahashi \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\nMushtaq Bhai has a point. There are surcharge economics at play with an Uber or Ola, which means we pay peak prices when they find it inconvenient to serve us. But we are outraged when Mushtaq Bhai tries to charge over the metered fare for routes away from home, routes with no-return passengers, routes clogged with water. So passengers snarl and Mushtaq Bhai and his ilk, snarl right back, provoking slogans like \u201cGet them off the Road!\u201d\u2019\n\nWe arrive at the airport just as Mushtaq Bhai dismisses my notion of the kaali peeli going off the roads. \u201cIt was here before I came to Bombay from Bihar and it will be here long after you\u2019re gone,\u201d he says, coming to a halt at Terminal 1. He pulls out my luggage in a much better mood than when we started.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d I tell him, \u201chow nice it is when you smile. Do that more often.\u201d His reply captures the malaise of Mumbai. \u201cMadam,\u201d he says, \u201ctalk to us more often.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people"],"yoast_head":"\nAamchi Kaali Peeli<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aamchi Kaali Peeli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-24T10:51:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T13:59:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"760\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sharan Saikumar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Aamchi Kaali Peeli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sharan Saikumar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sharan Saikumar\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0e5a2a8a153aa08d003cb87ad330ea4\"},\"headline\":\"Aamchi Kaali Peeli\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-24T10:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T13:59:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135\"},\"wordCount\":890,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1499079249.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"People\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135\",\"name\":\"Aamchi Kaali Peeli\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1499079249.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-24T10:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T13:59:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0e5a2a8a153aa08d003cb87ad330ea4\"},\"description\":\"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1499079249.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1499079249.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=1135#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Aamchi Kaali Peeli\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0e5a2a8a153aa08d003cb87ad330ea4\",\"name\":\"Sharan Saikumar\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96a4ed9c32deb4864bb8fe17dce4a9289921ee61a0e5349e662702b3a15a742a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96a4ed9c32deb4864bb8fe17dce4a9289921ee61a0e5349e662702b3a15a742a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/96a4ed9c32deb4864bb8fe17dce4a9289921ee61a0e5349e662702b3a15a742a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sharan Saikumar\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=8\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli","description":"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli","og_description":"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-07-24T10:51:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-17T13:59:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":760,"height":425,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sharan Saikumar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli","twitter_description":"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sharan Saikumar","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135"},"author":{"name":"Sharan Saikumar","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e0e5a2a8a153aa08d003cb87ad330ea4"},"headline":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli","datePublished":"2016-07-24T10:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T13:59:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135"},"wordCount":890,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg","articleSection":["People"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135","name":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-24T10:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T13:59:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e0e5a2a8a153aa08d003cb87ad330ea4"},"description":"Everything has a use-by date. And Mumbai\u2019s kaali peelis might have passed that date in an Uber\u2019d and Ola\u2019d city.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg","width":760,"height":425},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1135#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Aamchi Kaali Peeli"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e0e5a2a8a153aa08d003cb87ad330ea4","name":"Sharan Saikumar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96a4ed9c32deb4864bb8fe17dce4a9289921ee61a0e5349e662702b3a15a742a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96a4ed9c32deb4864bb8fe17dce4a9289921ee61a0e5349e662702b3a15a742a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/96a4ed9c32deb4864bb8fe17dce4a9289921ee61a0e5349e662702b3a15a742a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sharan Saikumar"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=8"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1499079249.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1137,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions\/1137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}