Cylinder delivery Problems- So there’s a monthly nuisance we are facing with a particular Cylinder delivery man Hafizul Sardar who asks for extra money every time he comes to deliver at our building.
Last time he delivered our cylinder and I paid him Rs. 800 to which I was supposed get back Rs. 63 back. He took the whole amount saying it was his tip. I didn’t say anything because I was not in the mood to argue that day.
Today he did the same thing with the aunty who stays one floor above us. This aunty gave him Rs. 20 extra as a tip. But he asked for Rs. 30 more. When she protested and said that last month he did not return the 60 rupees and went away. he said, “Porer bar nich theke cyclinder niye uthben. Ami dite jabo na.”
When she said she will complain about him. He said, “Jaa ichhe koro” (From apni to tumi).
Hearing the heated argument I opened my door.
Then when he reached my doorstep he kept on saying, “Complain korbe? Baal chirbe. ” and used some other derogatory language that I can’t mention here stooping down to that level.
On hearing this I confronted him asking how can he use such language to which he said, “Besh Korechi.”
That was when my father interfered and he got into an argument with him. By this time, we asked him to apologize to the aunty but he denied. We seized his cylinder and blocked his way out of our building. He kept trying to snatch the cyclinder from us but we asked him to apologize first for abusing. He was adamant to not apologise. My dad in a very friendly tone made him understand that it was not right to abuse a lady when every time he gets his tips even after it is not a mandate. He even threatened us saying, “Ami ekhunni lok dakbo phone kore.”
Cylinder Delivery man Adamant
However, even after 15 mins of this he didn’t apologise, we had to let him go. We got hold of the HP Gas Agency owner who was very kind to assure us that this man Hafizul Sardar will not come to deliver us any further. Mr. Deepak Agarwal, the agency owner repeatedly told us to not give them a penny more. But here’s where the problem lies. Most of the women in our building are old and when these men ask for money they give them without protesting because of how aggressively they behave. Last time during Puja, this same man asked for Bakshish. An old lady from our building gave him Rs. 50 he started saying, “Rs. 100 taka dile din ete ki hobe.” The old lady said that was all she had as no one else was at home. But he said, “Porer bar meyer kach theke 100 taka niye rakhben”. In a very rude tone. Also, most of the time we pay them tips just because they work so hard in this heat.
But what happened today have put us in a position where our safety is at risk. These men come at a time when most of the women and kids are alone at home. Then they behave like this and this man did not have the fear of losing his Cylinder delivery job! And it is not about the 10-20 bucks that we pay extra. But it is about the way they extract the money. This is what tolabaj culture is.
I urge you all to share this and raise your voice when something like this happens. Logde a complaint don’t tolerate gunda behavior. It’s their job to delivery cylinders for which they paid. If you can pay a tip, do so. But don’t tolerate getting forced for it.
Article By – Jaismita Alexander
Add Comment