Bengaluru's speech-impaired cab driver offers discounted airport rides with water, napkins, and books, wins hearts

The post quickly garnered attention, with many X users praising Bengaluru taxi driver's kindness and dedication.

Updated on: Jan 30, 2025, 12:12:59 IST

By Anagha Deshpande

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

A speech-impaired taxi driver in Bengaluru has won the admiration of passengers for his exceptional service. He offers discounted rides to the airport, along with thoughtful touches like water, napkins, and books for his passengers—gestures even major ride-hailing companies like Uber and Ola don’t provide.

Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman, an X (formerly Twitter) user, shared his experience with Rakesh. (X/@JsivaUrbantranz)

Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman, an X (formerly Twitter) user, shared his experience with Rakesh, saying, "Took a cab today and realized the driver, Mr. Rakesh, is speech-impaired. He offers airport rides at a discount with water, napkins and books for passengers—a thoughtful gesture even @Uber & @Olacabs don’t provide. I wasn’t on an airport trip, but he still offered me water."

(Also Read: In a first, Bengaluru woman loses ₹2 lakh after pressing ‘1’ on fake IVR call: Report)

Check out the post here:

The post received more than 17,000 views and over a hundred reshares.

How did X users react to the post?

The post quickly garnered attention, with many X users praising Mr Rakesh’s kindness and dedication. One user expressed their admiration, writing, "Mr Rakesh is truly an inspiration to all of us. Thank you for sharing this, Sivasubramaniam Jayaraman!" Others appreciated the positive message, saying, "Appreciate the appreciation post for the large-hearted person."

In contrast, several users highlighted the poor behavior of some drivers with other ride-hailing apps. "Many Ola and Uber drivers, on the other hand, are rude, dirty, and spit gutka. They can see the mouth of their drivers and suspend their license. I was a big fan of these two apps but now avoiding them as much as possible," one user shared.

One user pointed out, "There are good people as well as not-so-good people everywhere!" Another thoughtful comment read, "I would request this amazing citizen to change the text from 'dumb' to 'mute.' To me, he isn’t really one!" referring to the driver’s speech impairment, adding that it was a better term than “dumb,” which can be seen as derogatory.

(Also Read: Bengaluru man pretends to be hit by car in staged accident, caught on dash cam. Watch)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anagha Deshpande
Anagha Deshpande is Deputy Chief Content Producer at Hindustan Times. She is currently part of the news team. Before moving into this role, she worked with the Bengaluru desk, where she extensively covered civic issues, Karnataka politics, infrastructure, and urban governance. Over the past seven years, Anagha has worked across multiple facets of digital journalism, including reporting, editing, and video production. She briefly stepped away from journalism, only to realize that the newsroom is where she has the most fun. Her interests lie in tracking national and state politics, particularly South Indian politics, as well as social issues and public policy. She has previously worked with Deccan Herald, Mid-day, The Federal, and ThePrint, and has lived and worked in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai. When she isn't chasing stories, Anagha enjoys long aimless walks, reading, hiking, discovering new teas, and, by her own admission, overthinking almost everything.Read More

Get the latest City News, local updates, weather alerts and breaking stories from Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other major cities across India on Hindustan Times.