Cairenes know these cars, the white and black ones that race around the city that never sleeps. They can be found at midday, during rush hour, at 4 am, anytime.
Notorious for bumping up fares since the meters are 40 years old – and driving off even without knowing directions to their passenger’s destination, Egypt’s taxi drivers have developed a sense of automobile décor and their own rituals. One can even go as far as saying that taxi drivers in Egypt have formed a culture within a culture.
Religious devotion has played an important role in the various decorations taxi drivers use to spice up their cab’s interior. Driving in his Shaheen at 7 am, Ragab Eid, a 25-year-old cabby who just arrived from Upper Egypt, said that drivers use religion for good luck and to ward off the evil eye.
Eid spoke calmly on the cold Saturday morning while listening to a chapter from the Holy Quran.
“Some drivers post signs that read ‘In the Name of God’ and ‘Always remember God’ as a sign that the person driving the car is a religious Muslim, said Eid staring into the horizon with his tired eyes.
“I personally prefer to play the Quran and put Quranic verses on my car.
The taxi driver subculture has also developed its own traditions, separate from religion, with more mysterious and superstitious elements. Some of these may be rooted in rituals that were practiced in the drivers’ home town or village.
“When we buy a new taxi, we like to offer a sacrifice to ensure that we will always have good luck, said Eid. “Sometimes drivers would slaughter a rabbit or small animal and spread the blood on the car with their hands.
Mohammed Fawzi spends half the day working as a cab driver and the other half working as an accountant at a private firm. Religion is an essential element for Fawzi and for this reason he has ‘Duaa El Safar’ (traveler’s prayer) sticker on his glove compartment. He also has a diamond shaped paper decoration hanging that carries different sayings for the Islamic remembrance of God, such as “Praise be to Allah and “Glory be to Allah.
Fawzi is a short man with a slightly high-pitched voice who loves to talk about religion. On the back of his Renault, Fawzi wrote the names to his two sons: Seif El-Islam and Abdel-Rahman.
“The Prophet (PBUH) always recommended such names, said Fawzi.
Talking to Fawzi, it’s easy to see that family unity and kinship ties are important in taxi driver culture. Traditionally, taxi drivers write the names of their children on the back of their cabs.
“We re happy when our children are born so we write the names of our sons and daughters, said Eid.
“But it’s not always the names of our children though. It can also be the name of the city in Egypt where you come from.
Coptic Christian taxi drivers also like to show their religious devotion by posting pictures of Coptic saints. Some also hang a maroon colored wooden rosary on their front shield.
Language is the force of words and the driver culture hasn’t fallen short of creating their own language. For example, taxi drivers have created a quick way to communicate with gas station workers.
If a taxi driver needs 80-octane gas, the driver will make an upside down “V sign with his index and middle fingers, much like the jargon of private firm or traders on the floors of a stock exchange.
Love, too, is a force that is immeasurable when it comes to traditions in taxi interior design.
Mahmoud Sayed, a cab driver from Aswan, decided to get a head start, decking out his cab almost two weeks before Valentine’s Day.
“Every man should marry somebody he loves, said Sayed. “Never marry someone who would take advantage of you.
Sayed’s small old fashion Russian-made Lada shook violently every time he hit the iron bumps as he raced across Sixth of October bridge. The raspy radio played the well-known songs of Ehab Tawfik, one of Egypt’s popular singers.
When asked about all ritual sacrifices that are made by drivers, he smiled and said, “These rituals aren’t really right. You should slay a lamb to distribute meat to the poor, but not to spread blood all over your car with your bare hands, said Sayed. “Good fortune comes from God, and God alone.
