Who Is Pataabi Raman? Story Of 74-Yr-Old Auto Driver Who Used To Be An English Lecturer Goes Viral
The 74-year-old man was an English lecturer, and had done his Master of Arts (M.A.) and Master of Education (M.Ed). He was previously an English lecturer at a college in Mumbai.
New Delhi: Nikita Iyer, a Bengaluru-based researcher, recently shared on LinkedIn her experience of meeting a 74-year-old auto driver. Iyer’s post, which talks about the life of the man, has gone viral on the internet.
Iyer wrote in her post that she met an old man, named Pataabi Raman, driving a rickshaw after she was stranded by an Uber auto driver in the middle of the highway. She said that the old man, seeing a worried expression on her face, asked her where she wanted to go.
The researcher wrote that she was sceptical at first, and that she told the old man she needed to get to the other end of the town to her office and that she was already late. According to the post, the man replied in “impeccable English”, asking her to board the rickshaw and pay what she wanted to.
Iyer said that she was taken aback by the man’s kind behaviour, and agreed to him. She wrote that this was followed by a “very enriching 45 minutes”.
When Iyer asked the man how he spoke such fluent English, he replied that he was an English lecturer, and had done his Master of Arts (M.A.) and Master of Education (M.Ed), according to the post. He further told Iyer that he was 74 years old, and that he has been driving a rickshaw for 14 years. According to the post, the man was previously an English lecturer at a college in Mumbai because he did not get any jobs in Karnataka.
The man told the researcher that the only question he was asked was, “What is your caste?”. When he said his name was Pataabi Raman, he was told, “We will let you know”, according to the post.
Raman said he was fed up, and hence, moved to Mumbai to look for a job, where he was welcomed and given a job in the reputed Powai college. He worked at Powai college for 20 years, the post said.
Raman said he retired at 60 and came back to Karnataka. He told Iyer that teachers do not get paid well, and the maximum a teacher can earn is Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. He said that he does not have a pension since it was a private institution, adding that by driving a rickshaw, he gets at least Rs 700 to Rs 1500 a day, which is enough for him and his girlfriend.
Raman then said he calls his wife his girlfriend because one must always treat them as equal. According to the post, he said that his wife is 72 years old, and takes care of the house, while he works for nine to 10 hours a day.
“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,” Raman said.
Writing that her Thursday morning was made, Iyer concluded her post with the following lines:
“Not one complaint about life.
Not one regret.
So much to learn from these hidden heroes.
My Thursday morning was made.”
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