Bengaluru auto driver used to be an English lecturer, his story will win your heart

A LinkedIn has taken the internet by storm, Nikita Iyer, a Bengaluru-based researcher, posted her enjoyable ride with an auto driver said the auto driver taught her valuable experience. Nikita started with how she met 74-year-old Pataabi Raman. She was standing on a highway getting late for her work, Raman saw her and stopped the auto, after which he asked her in English “Please come in, ma’am, you can pay what you want,” which took Nikita into surprise. 

Later Pataabi revealed that he was an English lecturer at a reputed college in Mumbai’s Powai he worked there for 20 years, then he shifted to Karnataka but didn't get a teaching job there due to his caste, “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.'" Nikita wrote in her post.

“Teachers do not get paid well. The maximum you can earn is Rs 10-15,000 and, since it was a private institution, I don't have a pension. By driving a rickshaw I get at least Rs 700-1500 a day, which is enough for me and my girlfriend," Pataabi said to Nikita. 

He also spoke about his wife and said he called his wife's girlfriend, 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. She is superior to me sometimes. She is 72 and takes care of the house while I work for 9-10 hours a day."

He further told Nikita that he has a son who helps the couple with their rent. “We live in a 1 BHK in Kadugodi where my son helps pay the rent of Rs 12,000, but beyond that, we are not dependent on our children. They live their life and we live ours happily,” he said. 

"Not one complaint about life. Not one regret. So much to learn from these hidden heroes. My Thursday morning was made," Nikita concluded.