A Bengaluru resident had a surprising encounter with a bike taxi rider who revealed that he was an Infosys employee, working in the company's contract management team. The chance meeting left the woman astonished, highlighting the unexpected stories and professions that can be discovered in everyday interactions. In a LinkedIn post, Chaarmika Nagalla wrote how she was greeted by "Am I audible?" - a phrase typically used in virtual meetings, when she hailed a bike taxi in Bengaluru.
As they chatted, she discovered that the rider was an Infosys employee, working in the contract management team. The techie told her that he spends his weekends driving for the bike taxi service, opting to earn extra money as a gig worker and being productive rather than scrolling through social media. "Turns out, he works at Infosys in their contract management team??!! But instead of doom-scrolling through reels during weekends or early mornings, he thought—why not earn some extra money and be productive? And this wasn't a one-off," she wrote.
Here's the post:
This wasn't an isolated incident. On another day, her Uber bike ride home was with a rider who was dressed in premium gear, hinting at his affluent background. As they chatted, she learned that he worked for a B2B event firm and had chosen to complete the ride more for conversation than for the fare.
"He told me he works at a B2B event management company and thought, "Why drive alone from work to home? Might as well complete a ride and have some company". Honestly, Bangalore never fails to surprise me. While it's great to see more people embracing gig work, I can't help but wonder—is loneliness becoming an epidemic? Not too long ago, we saw a Microsoft employee moonlight as an Uber driver during weekends just to combat loneliness. And that makes me think: Are we covering deeper issues by "hustling"?" the post added.
The post sparked a conversation about Bangalore's gig economy, highlighting the emotional undercurrents driving individuals to participate in it. Others shared similar experiences of encountering corporate professionals working as bike taxi riders and cab drivers. These stories highlighted the pervasive sense of loneliness that seemed to be driving these individuals to take on gig work.
One user shared a story of a software engineer who drove for Uber at night to escape the emptiness of his corporate job. Another person recounted meeting a marketing executive who worked as a bike taxi rider on weekends to connect with people and break the monotony of her daily routine.
A user wrote, "The other day, my partner's ride was an employee from his same company who does bike taxis to combat loneliness. I guess we're living an empty shell - some of us and there are deeper issues that no one is ready to talk about! Cz when they are ready, there's no one to talk to!"
Another commented, "Corporate culture sells us 'productivity'as virtue, but it's often a distraction. The Microsoft employee driving an auto isn't ‘optimizing weekends'. He's outsourcing human connection to strangers in the backseat. This isn't hustle, it's emotional outsourcing."
A third said, "This is why having a genuine employer brand that cares about making connections real at the work place will be a big winner now and in future in attracting and retaining people."
