Auto driver pays man who forgot his wallet

MUMBAI: As Rameez Shaikh left his office for Friday prayers at the nearest mosque, he forgot to carry his wallet in the rush. He realised this while catching an

MUMBAI: As Rameez Shaikh left his office for Friday prayers at the nearest mosque, he forgot to carry his wallet in the rush. He realised this while catching an auto-rickshaw but it was too late to turn back. Little did he know that what followed next would win his heart and change the way he perceived people.

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In a Facebook post shared on August 26 that garnered over 8,000 shares, Shaikh described his experience with auto driver Shukla. “I requested him to drop me at the Masjid and wait till I pray (for 15-20 minutes) and drop me back; and that I will pay him more than the fare,”the post read.

“The auto guy (who was pasting a “Ganpati Utsav” sticker on his windshield as I entered his auto) told me: “Aap bhagwan ke kaam ke liye jaa rahe ho, aap tension matt le... mai chhodd deta hu aap ko... (You are going for a holy thing, do not be so tensed),” Shaikh said. He said the driver agreed to take him to the mosque but told him he could not wait.

“As he dropped me at the Masjid, he did something I never expected.” Shukla offered Shaikh money so he could get back to his workplace after praying.

“As he could not wait for me, he wanted to ensure that I got back conveniently. He sincerely told me not to feel embarrassed,” said Shaikh.

Touched by his gesture, he took to social media to tell people what he experienced. “Ultimately I didn’t take the cash he offered. I noted his mobile number and paid him his fare later in that same evening though he never asked for the money,” he said.

He added that when he called Shukla to pay him, the auto driver modestly underplayed the whole incident. “I insisted, went over to him and paid him. He made it look like I did a great job but I didn’t feel that I repaid his gesture. That’s why I wrote the post,” he said.

“Could be a stereotype breaker for some... An ‘Auto-wala,’ ‘Ganpati bhakt’ with ‘Large red tilak on forehead’ going out of his way to make sure that a fellow human of another faith gets to pray to his deity in peace.” Shaikh has decided to take printouts of the comments on his post and share them with Shukla.

“We should all share positive experiences on social media. There’s too much hatred out here,” he wrote.