Rs 30.41

 I Became a Rapido Captain. Nobody Was Supposed to Know.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

I mean — me? On a bike, ferrying strangers at night, for pocket change? I have a reputation. A carefully built, carefully maintained image. What if a colleague spots me? A neighbour? Worse — what if my wife sees me sneaking out with two helmets?

But something about this idea just wouldn't leave me alone.

So one night — kids asleep, wife asleep, house quiet — I crept downstairs like I was planning a heist. Sat in the dark. Phone in hand. The app staring back at me.

For a long minute, I just stared at it.

Then I pressed Go On Duty.

The phone exploded. Orders flooded in before I even knew what I was doing. I fumbled, panicked, and somehow picked one close to home. Grabbed the helmets. Opened the gate — slowly, carefully, one centimetre at a time — and slipped out into the night.

My first rider was a man wrung dry by a full day at a biryani shop. Tired eyes. Quiet. Just wanted home. No small talk needed. I rode him there.

Bill: ₹30.41. He handed me ₹35. "Keep it."

Five rupees.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I just said thank you — and meant it more than I expected to.

That ₹35  ?  It's tucked in a hidden pocket of my wallet right now. It's not going anywhere. Ever.

Because in that moment, something cracked open in me. The koocham, the awkwardness, the fear of being seen — it quietly started dissolving.

And I was already hungry for the next ride.