This morning, on my way to work, stranded by an Uber auto driver in the middle of the highway, I must have had a worried expression on my face which made an old man driving a rickshaw stop and ask me where I wanted to go.
Skeptical at first, I told him I needed to get to the other end of town to my office and that I was alrea kidy late. He said, "Please come in Ma'm, you can pay what you want" in impeccable English.
Taken aback with such kind behaviour, I said ok and what followed was a very enriching 45 minutes.
Of course, as a Researcher, I couldn't contain my curiosity and asked him how he spoke such good English to which he said he was an English lecturer and has done his M.A and M.Ed!
He predicted my next question and asked me himself, "So you're going to ask me why I am driving an auto right?"
I said, absolutely, please tell me.
He said he is 74 years old now and has been driving a rickshaw for 14 years. Previously he was an English lecturer at a college in Mumbai because he did not get any jobs in Karnataka. The only question he was asked was, "What is your caste?" and when he said his name was Mr. Pataabi Raman, they said, "We will let you know." Fed up, he moved to Mumbai to look for a job and was welcomed and given a job in the reputed Powai college where he worked for 20 years. At 60, he retired and came back to Karnataka. "Teachers do not get paid well. The maximum you can earn is 10-15,000/- and since it was a private institution, I don't have pension. By driving a rickshaw I get at least 700-1500/- a day which enough for me and my girlfriend", he laughed.
When I laughed too he said, "She is my wife but I call her my girlfriend because you must always treat them as equal. The minute you say wife, husbands think she's a slave who must serve you but she is in no way inferior to me, in fact she is superior to me sometimes. She is 72 and takes care of the house while I work for 9-10 hours a day. We live in a 1 BHK in Kadugodi where my son helps pay the rent of 12,000/- but beyond that, we are not dependent on our children. They live their life and we live ours happily. Now I am the Raja of my road, I can take my auto out any time I want and work when I want."
Not one complaint about life.
Not one regret.
So much to learn from these hidden heroes.
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