“There is no disturbance among taxi drivers, but a general fear when such situations arise,” Quadros said. “In the pre-Independence era, taxis were driven by the Chilya community from Gujarat and Punjabis, before it started getting crowded with people from Uttar Pradesh.”

“Maharashtrians do not want jobs as taxi drivers as it is not seen to be secure and does not come with a “government job” tag — two attributes that a Maharashtrian always prefers,” said Mushtaq Qureshi, founder president of the city taxi union.

Jadhav, who owns three taxis, has employed Singh for one car while the rest are driven by him and his son-in-law.

After the Rs 250 that Singh takes home every night, the rest belongs to Jadhav, which has so far “supported his four sons, two daughters, wife and parents”.

“When we employ drivers we just look at their licence, age, driving experience and attitude. We never ask for his caste, community or his native,” Jadhav said.

“Over 60 per cent of the taxis today are owned by Maharashtrians and are driven by people from Uttar Pradesh as there is a sense of responsibility that they show towards the car and towards the job and they are willing to put in extra hours.”

Jadhav, who came to Mumbai in the 1970s like Singh, says “those days Maharashtrians went for textile mill jobs. It was lowly to be a taxi driver”.

Jadhav and Singh have both been caught in mobs during the 1992 Hindu-Muslim riots, the 1993 blasts and monsoon floods in 2005.

... contd.