Taxi driver Mohammed Ali Khan is the epitome of a real trooper, as the story of his journey to the UAE proves
Written by: Kara Martin
Coming from a well-to-do background (his father was a prominent geologist), Khan was on the cusp of graduating with top honours in Economics when his father passed away. Suddenly taking care of the family became top priority.
“I dropped everything and got the first job I could find working various positions in a bank.”
But the economic downturn hit, swallowing up jobs – including Khan’s – with it. His search for work brought him to Abu Dhabi. These days he finds himself patrolling the streets in search of people, like him, trying to get from A to B.
7am: “I’m up and about getting dressed for work. I share a room with several other taxi drivers in ICAD, a residential area for labourers in Musaffah. We all work completely different shifts so getting dressed is tricky; I can’t make too much noise or turn on the lights when people are sleeping. I grab a quick bite – something like a paratha (Indian flat-bread) with channa or egg, and some tea – at one of the compound’s restaurants, then I head out to begin my working day.”
8am: Before starting his shift, Khan must check in with his superiors at the head office.
“It’s a shame how many customers I lose along the way to the office in the mornings. People get cross when I don’t stop for them – but I assure you, it’s not that I don’t want to stop for you – it’s just that I can’t!”
Khan then collects his first business-suited passenger of the morning. Traffic is brutal and the customer isn’t pleased.
“Traffic is a problem and we do get some cross passengers. But we can’t speed – even if we wanted to. There are new speed limit trackers installed in our cars: 80kph inside the city limit and 120kph outside. Exceeding these causes a lot of problems for me.”
2pm: The average taxi driver in the capital works 12 hours daily, but they do get to schedule their own breaks, so Khan and a few of his peers meet up to relax and refuel.
“Lunch is anywhere that’s cheap and that has parking,” he chuckles. “There is always parking at the main bus station on Muroor Road and there’s a restaurant there that serves good Pakistani food.”
Lunch consists of curried mutton and rice while exchanging customer stories with his fellow taxi drivers. “There are always stories to tell because we meet so many different people on a daily basis.”
A colleague talks about a customer who requested to be taken all the way to Dubai, racked up a steep sum and then ran off without paying. Mohammed has been lucky though and makes the others jealous with his latest story. “Westerners are my best customers, always respectful, never angry. Once I picked up a tourist at Emirates Palace whose fare came up to AED 6 and he gave me a $50 tip! I declined at first but he insisted.”
With the money, Khan hopes to get a better functioning mobile phone. He might also save a little or send some home to his family.
10pm: Still on the road and singing along to his favourite Hindi tunes on the radio, he does the rounds at some of the prime passenger locations, including malls and hotels. He picks up someone heading to Yas Island: “Although it’s far, I love going there. It’s beautiful and for now there’s absolutely no traffic! This job is great for sight-seeing.”
2am: Driving roughly 500 km per day, by the time Khan finishes, he has just enough energy to call home, before crawling into bed.
“I stay up a little longer to call home. I miss my family, but I need to be here and my wife, a Psychology graduate, thankfully understands that.”
The last time he saw his two year old son, he couldn’t speak a word, but now over the phone he shrieks, “Baba, when are you coming home?”
Mohammed himself isn’t sure of the answer to that question.
“I’m saving up but it’s a lot of money. We’ll see,” he smiles.
Final thoughts: “It’s a very stressful and risky job; the fines, the traffic, the dangerous driving here in Abu Dhabi, the hours, the pay – the list goes on,” says Khan. “It isn’t exactly where I’d like to be, but it’s a start. I have long term goals of working in my field of study, as well as doing more study in the UK. But it will take time. For now, I am grateful just to have work.”
