The Ride That Changed My Life

“India, 2018 : as chartered accountant Firdosh Sheikh hailed an Uber cab for a midnight airport dash, little did she suspect that her life was about to be changed dramatically. It was the kind of journey she’d undertaken countless times before, with the convenience of a modern app-driven service enabling a much more timeless journey to the fresh fields of new possibilities. Unknown to her, though, something was about to happen which would alter the direction of her life entirely, and potentially millions of other lives too.

Always believing in the value of human interaction, Firdosh engaged her driver in conversation as the journey progressed. Suddenly, and without warning, the small talk took an unexpected turn. The driver, a look of desperation creeping across his face, implored her to cancel the ride through her phone app. He then offered to take her to the airport privately, for a sum less than what had been quoted. Puzzled by this sudden attempt to reframe the transaction, Firdosh asked the question any of us might have asked : why ?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer lay in the systemic dysfunction of a way of working which exploited rather than sustained those who enabled it. The huge commissions, fees and penalties attached to remote and centrally-administered tech-based convenience apps provide little more than poverty pay in return for demanding, often relentless work. In India, and also in too many other places around the globe, a lack of opportunity and education go hand in hand with the common necessity to acquire the ability to drive. These factors, taken together, create vast communities of those who rely on transporting others for a living. Naturally, therefore, the potential for exploitation - incidental or deliberate - is vast indeed.

The realisation descended on Firdosh that, despite her professional background being entirely unrelated to any relevant assistance or solution, a fire had been lit within her. A frequent user of app-hailed taxi services, she undertook to go on talking to her drivers : only from now on, the conversations would be less about polite trivialities and more about their life experiences. Over the weeks and months that followed, she would hear many, many more truly heart-rending stories about how stress, overwork and the almost complete absence of fair reward was destroying not only decent people but the prospects of their families also. Gradually - but steadily - her resolve to change this grew and grew.

So compelling was her desire for change, that Firdosh began to look past her own professional sphere, and into areas where she had no experience. Finally, it became clear where the answer lay : utilising the levelling, disrupting technologies of today to build a fairer system which would not only ensure a better deal for drivers, but a superior service for users too. With a background in working for hedge funds and tech giants such as Microsoft, such a mission presented hitherto undreamt of challenges for Firdosh : yet, so convinced was she that her life’s mission had been unalterably set by that one chance encounter on a mundane airport journey, she knew she had to act.

Given that the best and most revolutionary change can only be produced with similarly innovative technologies, blockchain, smart contracts, NFT’s and state-of-the-art algorithmic power have all been brought together by the team she has assembled to create something new, different and better. Zero-commission, a five-minute signup process for drivers, guaranteed dynamic pricing and an unrivalled standard of service are set to turn the ride-hailing industry on its head. Truth, knowledge, unity, mobility, and trust are all values hardwired into the ethos of what Firdosh has created.

Ride-hailing, worldwide, has all the hallmarks of a saturated market, with revenues set to grow to over 350 billion dollars over the next four years. Yet, an MIT survey recently discovered that almost three-quarters of drivers actually make less than the minimum wage in their territories. The time is at hand, therefore, for DRIFE, and all that Firdosh and her team of experts have created to sweep away the injustice, set the bar for new levels of service and create a new worldwide standard for ethical enterprise.

DRIFE will be the future : as Firdosh moves around the world, introducing this new revolution in transport to countries across the globe, the planet will be moving to the beat of a fairer drum - and countless lives will be better as a result.

It is an amazing journey, stranger than fiction in many ways, with all the hallmarks of a tale for the ages. Soon, all over the world, DRIFE will be a household name, bringing people to their destinations and providing a fair and free living for those whose work drives it.

All of this began with a simple, mundane journey which - completely unexpectedly - changed the life of one person, and through that change altered the destiny of countless others.

What is the story of the ride that changed your life ?