'Teachers Do Not Get Paid Well': Heartfelt Story Of Bengaluru Auto Driver Who Used To Be An English Lecturer

While many judge people based only on their profession and appliance, Nikita Iyer, a Bengaluru-based professional, recently had an inspirational experience when she encountered an auto-driver and was left gobsmacked with his eloquent English speaking aptitudes. As a result, she decided to document the heartfelt encounter in a social media post, which has now gone massively viral thanks to netizens.

From A Lecturer To An Auto Driver

In her long post over on LinkedIn, Iyer said that the auto-driver opened up about his life as a former English lecturer and how he chose his current profession. His story is winning absolutely heartwarming and is too good to miss out on.

Nikita started off with how she met 74-year-old Pataabi Raman after being stranded in the middle of the highway on her way to work. Looking at her, Raman stopped and asked her to board the auto in perfect English. "Please come in, ma'am, you can pay what you want," Iyer quoted him as saying in her post.

Pleasantly amazed by his kind gesture, Nikita boarded the auto and started talking to him so as to satiate her curiosity. During her chat, Pataabi Raman revealed how he was an English lecturer at a reputed college in Mumbai's Powai, where he worked for nearly two decades. However, he did not get a teaching job in Karnataka as the only question he was getting asked was about his caste.

They Only Questioned I Was Asked, 'What's Your 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.'" she wrote in the post.

Later on, he decided to move to Karnataka at the age of 60 and began working as an auto driver as teachers did not get paid too well there. "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," he said laughingly.

Furthermore, Pataabi also explained why he laughed at the "girlfriend" remark. He called his wife his girlfriend as he always wanted to treat her as an equal.

"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. 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," the 74-year-old added.

Nikita concluded her post by saying that the 74-year-old stated that he has no complaints about life and also no regrets either. The heartwarming story has inspired the netizens, with many applauding the auto driver's honest spirit.

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