The Date was 27th January in the year 2009. My First International Tour to South East Asian Countries of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore was coming to an end with a four day stay at Singapore. Was an absolute fresher then, never even seen an aircraft from close distance before. Job attributes demanded me to escort a group of thirty odd Bengali Middle Class householders for a Holiday Trip to the above mentioned destinations. Was a smooth affair thankfully! My Final Day's stay at Singapore. The evening was free for the Group to be at leisure and for personal activities. Hence myself being the Tour Manager was also having some time to spare for myself in the evening. So i reached the Bus/ Taxi Stop area in front of Mustafa Shopping Centre at Little India and Hopped in to a Taxi asking the Driver gentleman to take me to Bartley Road where a wonderful ashrama of the Ramakrishna Mission is situated. It was a Dream for me to experience how wonderfully my Beloved Thakur was worshipped at a foreign land by foreign devotees.
Nevertheless, the pony tailed Singaporean Driver Nodded his Head and started off his taxi towards the destination i had intimated to him about and after a drive of around 20 minutes, brought me to a place and stopped the taxi in front of a road which read "Battery Road". I Was startled to see that especially in a distant land all alone with not much money in my hand at that point of time and also it was getting dark at dusk. Very Humbly i told the driver Look This is not my destination but it was Bartley Road! To My Happy Surprise, the Driver at Once accepted that it was misheard and that had something to do with the difference of our accents. He at once stopped the Taxi Meter which read something around 7 Singaporean Dollars, drove all the way back to the same place where i had got into the Cab From, and started the Meter freshly from that point to take me to the place i actually desired to be in! I was overwhelmed to experience how they behaved and co-operated and although i did not have much money with me, handed some extra coins to him in appreciation. This small incident will be remembered by me for a long while as i never experienced this in my own country before rather there are chances of being harassed and robbed off quite easily in such circumstances.
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