Anton and Joseph, the rickshaw drivers

Coming back, after visiting Sri Aurobindo’s Samadhi, I took a rickshaw. There was a flat rate of 20 rupees per hour. Perhaps for us visitors it was 20 rupees, while for others it would be 10 or 12 rupees per hour. We are all stupid foreigners to these drivers! My visit took about half an hour or forty minutes, and still I had 20 minutes left. My rickshaw driver’s Christian name was Anton. Anton was supposed to wait for me at the Ashram gate. He spoke absolutely perfect English, so there was no problem.

But when I came out to look for him, he was not to be found. Where had he gone? I was searching for him, but he was nowhere. An old friend of mine who was at the main Ashram gate was screaming like anything: “Anton, Anton!” But Anton did not come. Instead, a driver named Joseph came and told me, “Anton said something was wrong with his rickshaw, so I have come to replace him.” This driver was also a Christian.

I said, “Are you telling me the truth? Now I will be in your rickshaw, and Anton will appear.”

Joseph said, “No, no, Anton will not appear.”

I wanted to keep the rickshaw for another hour so that I could go to the market and see my friends. I told Joseph, “Now I would like another hour.”

Joseph said, “Anton asked me to take his money.”

I said, “As soon as I give it to you, Anton himself will come to take the money.”

He said, “No, no, no! You don’t have to give it to Anton; only give it to me.”

Then we went to the market.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy visits India, Agni Press, 1995
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/sci