email from Dawood
Heard a Radio program tonight on SBS Tamil,
where this 'Auto Anna Durai' was interviewed.
That radio program prompted me
to search for the name on Google and found this article which is
being copied below.
It is a wonder how this simple Auto Driver can
afford to do all these extraordinary Charitable activities!
Pon
CHENNAI
August 7, 2013
All
in an auto
Anusha Parthasarathy
3
·
The Hindu: I want to open an
old-age home where the elderly don’t feel they are a burden.
· Where they can be
taught simple skills using which they can earn a little money and spend it
· the way they want to.
Photo: M. Vedhan
·
·
· The
Hindu: Annadurai.
· Photo: M. Vedhan
Why is share-auto
driver Annadurai being talked about by people in over 35 countries? His vehicle
offers passengers a range of free services, discovers Anusha Parthasarathy
Annadurai
spent the early hours of Friendship Day (August 4) answering hundreds of calls
that kept his phone ringing incessantly. People from 35 (or more, he says)
countries were trying to get in touch with him, to appreciate him and hear his
story all over again.
A share-auto driver on the Thiruvanmiyur-Sholinganallur route, Annadurai’s auto is
loaded with goodies — free WiFi, mobile charging point, 35
magazines, 10 newspapers, TV and a Samsung Galaxy tablet to access Internet (in
case you don’t have a smartphone). When his story went
viral on Facebook last weekend (posted by a group called Photos That Shook The
World), with nearly 10,000 shares and 20,000 likes, it was unlike anything he
had ever experienced.
“I was up all night answering those calls,” he says, shaking his head in
disbelief. “When I was on one call, another would keep popping up. I’ve got
over 2,000 calls so far. It was overwhelming that so many people took time and
spent whatever it cost just to call and appreciate me. I know only Tamil and I
couldn’t even understand most of them! Dubai, Korea, Pakistan, the list just
kept growing.”
How did he talk to them then? A typical conversation would go like this. “They
would call and ask, ‘Annadurai? Auto driver?’ I would say ‘yes’ and they would
tell me that I’m doing a good job. Even if I didn’t exactly know what they were
saying, I could understand what they were implying. I would say, ‘Thank you,
sir. Sometime, you come to Chennai. You call and I will meet you.’ Whoever
called on Sunday wished me a happy friendship day before they hung up.”
What sets him apart?
It isn’t just Annadurai's auto that sets him apart but what he symbolises
through the services he offers. A native of Peravurani (Thanjavur District),
Annadurai, now 29, came to Chennai when he was four years old and grew up with
two brothers and a sister. He now lives in Injambakkam and has been a
share-auto driver for four years. Two years ago, he had an idea. “I don’t know
why I started adding things to my auto. I just thought I must do something for
my customers and stocked around 20 newspapers. But, it wasn’t enough,” he
smiles. Now, of course, it has grown to include other things. “After I
installed WiFi a year back, I bought a tablet for Rs.7,000 but felt my
customers deserved better (they were mostly from the IT sector). So I saved up
for a couple of months and bought a more expensive one,” he adds, nonchalantly.
Annadurai’s list of services seems to be never ending. He provides free service
to teachers and nurses who work in hospitals that treat those with HIV. And on
eight days of the year (such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day) he offers free
or discounted services to some customers. He sponsors a child’s education and
has inspired three of his customers to do so too. “I do this because I need job
satisfaction. Money may come and go, but the feeling you get when your
customers choose to travel only in your auto is unmatched,” Annadurai says, “I
think teachers do the most honourable service in the world and for them, auto
rides will always be for free. They make leaders and thinkers and must be
recognised for their work.”
Contest for customers
There is also a customer relationship contest in which one has to answer five
questions. A lucky winner could win Rs.1,000. Similarly, a token is given to
every customer who boards Annadurai’s auto. If the customer collects 20 tokens,
he gets Rs.250, 30 tokens would get him Rs.500 and so on. “I wondered if my
customers would participate in a quiz that I set and was surprised to get 80 entries
in the first month. I’ve been holding these contests for over a year now.”
This auto driver, fondly called ‘Auto anna’ by his customers, hopes to sponsor
10 children next year and eventually plans to open an old-age home. “I’ve
already begun planning how to go about it. I want to provide a place where the
elderly don’t feel they are a burden. Where they can be taught simple skills
using which they can earn a little money and spend it the way they want to,” he
says.
But how does he manage to do all this? “It is tough, yes. I do have my problems
but doing this makes me happy. I’m positive and I know I will be able to
achieve my goals.”
Annadurai offers discounts on
Mother’s Day – Free rides for mothers with their children
Women’s Day – Free rides for women over the age of 50
Children’s Day – Free rides for school students
Father’s Day – Free for men over the age of 45
Abdul Kalam’s birthday – Rides at 50 per cent off for all customers
Independence Day – Free rides for anyone born before 1947
Annadurai’s birthday – 50 per cent off on rides for all customers
Valentine’s Day – Free rides for couples (Because I’m a bachelor too, smirks
Annadurai).
All customers will also get a chocolate on all these days
