Cabbie khushi, cabbie glum!

An outpouring of emotion has followed the recent phasing out of the Premier Padmini taxis in Mumbai This symbol of the city has touched many hearts to which the world of cricket is not impervious Over the years several cricketers and cricket loversmdashsome illustrious and others unknownmdashhave used these iconic blackandyellow Fiat cabs to commute for matches or to return home from toursThese journeys have lent themselves to memorable conversations interesting anecdotes and even film roles as you will discover later in this pieceRight in front of me is a midday clipping of then captain Mohammed Azharuddin talking about Indiarsquos failure in the fournation Centenary Series held in New Zealand in early 1995 It also has a photograph of Sachin Tendulkar ensuring his luggage is appropriately placed in the boot of a blackandyellow cabEven international cricketers have used the humble kaalipeeli Like West Indies allrounder Carl Hooper in the 1990s Anil Joshi a wellknown name in Mumbai cricket circles who used to assist visiting and home teams at the Wankhede Stadium recalled Hooper hailing a taxi from the team hotel arriving at the Polly Umrigar Gate and then instructing the man behind the wheel to drive straight in front of the gates of the old players enclosure where he got off Hooper asked the taxi driver to wait ran 30 rounds of the Wankhede Stadium and then returned to his hotel in the same cabLess than a decade earlier India wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani was lodged with the rest of his teammates at the Garware Club House while the team for the fourTest series and 1979 World Cup in England was to be picked Kirmani told chat show host Karan Thapar many years later how while he was stepping out for an evening engagement his Karnataka teammate Gundappa Vishwanath broke the news to him that he was not in the team to tour EnglandKirmani was dealt a mighty blow but Vishwanath had tears in his eyes as he relayed the news to KirmaniThe stunned stumper hailed a cab and asked him to drive on without telling him where he wanted to go When the driver insisted on a destination he was told to just keep driving without bothering about the fare The nonplussed driver did just that and got Kirmani back to the Wankhede Stadium after around half an hour It cost Kirmani Rs 250 Presumably the driver of Kirmanirsquos cab was not as talkative as the one Sandeep Patil encountered while on his way to his Shivaji Park home in 2007 The Indian team had just crashed out of the World Cup in the Caribbean and the nation was in the throes of despair over the World Cup ouster The driver discovered that Patil was involved with cricket in a way and started spewing venom on the Indian team and set up Patil even felt like getting off and hailing another cab but patience wonPatil told me on Monday that he and actor Raj Babbar were amongst the first to buy the Padmini with floor gearsLike all brands Fiats evolved The blackandyellow cabs were a bit differently modelled in the 1960s and former Mumbai player Vilas Godbole came up with an anecdote from that era He recalled ldquoThere was a player in the 1960s who after falling on hard times starting driving a taxi Once Ajit Wadekar got into his taxi He recognised Ajit but not vice versa as the driver was wearing a cap The club cricketer started criticising the Indian team left right and centre and just when Ajit was about to express his ire the cricketer turned around took off his cap and told Ajit that he was only jokingrdquo While they were delighted to meet each other one cannot escape the sad undertone to the story This was the same cricketer who had come forward to salvage an outstation tournament featuring young Mumbai cricketers in terms of sponsorship and here he was driving a cabThere is no shame in driving a taxi but having to do so after owning a company like that cricketer did does prove that lifersquos roads can get difficultTalking of roads there were always Padmini cabs waiting down the road to pick up late actor and sports buff Tom Alter from his central Mumbai dwellingApart from his film shooting assignments Alter travelled to grounds all over the city to play his muchloved cricket games Despite being a famous personality Alter didnrsquot feel the need to own a car His son Jamie told me on Tuesday that his father didnrsquot find owning a car practical He didnrsquot lap up the comfort of air conditioners and using taxis meant he had no stress of drivingAn unfamiliar taxi driver couldnrsquot just jump the socalled queue to drive Alter to his set and at times when the film needed a taxi and a driver for a shot they could always call upon the man who had driven AlterLike Alter former Mumbai captain Shishir Hattangadi had blackandyellow Premier cabs waiting to take him to the Wankhede Stadium from his Warden Road residence for either a game or a practice session According to Hattangadi the drivers even followed his progress But the more vivid memory about the Premier Padmini for Hattangadi is about him and Ravi Shastri as teenagers sitting on the bonnet of their future Tata Sports Club senior Milind Regersquos car to watch a Tata v State Bank of India interoffice game at Islam Gymkhana At tea time they were asked by Rege if that car belonged to themldquoI know how Milind must have felt then because I later learnt how he would react to even a tiny scratch on his carrdquo Hattangadi told meAs it is our anecdotes barely scratch the surface when it comes to the bond between the blackandyellow taxi and its loyal patrons For this city icon the end of the road is paved with memoriesmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stanceHe tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper