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Raja of the Road: Meet the 74-year-old lecturer driving autos in Bengaluru
Pataabi Raman, a 74-year-old Bengaluru auto driver is the new internet sensation. Retired at the age of 60 as an English lecturer, he has been driving an auto for 14 years for living.
India has witnessed many discrepancies so far from over-qualified youth settling for menial jobs to a high rate of unemployment among PhD holders but even then, a professor driving an auto is a black swan event.
Pataabi Raman, a 74-year-old Bengaluru auto driver is the new internet sensation. Retired at the age of 60 as an English lecturer, he has been driving an auto for 14 years for living.
The story of Raman came to the limelight following a LinkedIn post that went viral where Nikita Iyer, shared the 45 minutes journey and conversation with a well-educated auto driver who speaks fluent English. She wrote in a LinkedIn post about How she was taken aback by the impeccable English of this auto driver.
Nikita tells in her post how she couldn’t get a taxi in the middle of the highway and an auto driver stopped and asked her if she needed a lift.
Worried about being late at the office, Nikita told him she wanted to reach her office which was located on the other end of town. His answer surprised her. He said, "Please come in ma'am, you can pay what you want" in fluent English. Intrigued Nikita asked him how he became so fluent.
Raman very charmingly spoke about how he had been driving an auto for the past 14 years. Before that, he worked as a lecturer in a college in Powai, Mumbai for about 20 years. He had tried to get a job in his hometown in Karnataka, but couldn't do so and explained how fed up he had been hearing constant questioning about his caste in job interviews.
Since he worked at a private college, he was not entitled to any pension. This led him to move back to Karnataka and start driving an auto in Bengaluru to meet daily expenditures. He currently lives in Kadugodi with his 72-year-old wife.
"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 a pension. By driving a rickshaw I get at least 700-1500/- a day which is enough for me and my girlfriend (his wife)", he laughed.- writes Nikita
Having experienced highs and lows in life, Raman has, no complaints or any regret in life, he sees himself as a privileged and self-sufficient man who works 9-10 hours a day.
“I am the Raja of my road, I can take my auto out any time I want and work when I want," he adds.
