Mishraji, a taxi driver in Mumbai, was looking a little despondent on Saturday afternoon. When probed, it came out that his work-week schedule has been upset of late. Genuine curiosity to understand this Indian consumer's problem took over.

It turns out that Mishraji's regular day off is Monday. Unlike many office-goers who hail his taxi, his profession allows him to choose his day off, or choose not to have a day off. His choice is based on his ‘insight' that on Mondays, the traffic is at its peak on the routes he frequents. Now, we have no way of verifying this with statistics, but it does sound believable.

The day he enjoys his work most — or hates it least — is Sunday. Thin traffic is cited as the reason, along with holiday commuters being in a more pleasant frame of mind than office-goers in a race against the clock. Work environment is a priority for this professional.

Last Sunday, the traffic was even thinner than usual, as India took on Bangladesh in the World Cup opener; so low according to Mishraji that his collection for the day took a big hit.

Net result: Mishraji will take the latter half of Sunday, February 27, off, and brave the roads on Monday to make up. His research has convinced him that not many people will step out of home when India plays England.

Despite not being crazy about cricket, the taxi driver confessed that the game has grown on him as he was forced to watch a bit of the ‘Dhoni-wala' cricket, a.k.a. IPL, in his single television household. Mishraji then whipped out a pocket World Cup schedule, and informed us of his work-schedule adjustments. He will continue with work as usual on March 9, when India play Amul — sorry, Netherlands — in Delhi. On March 12, Saturday, he will take the day off when we play South Africa in Nagpur. Ditto on Sunday, March 20, when we play the West Indies in Chennai.

Like the rest of us, he's anxious to know how far the Indian team will go. His reasons may be different, but he's another Indian the glorious game has touched.

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