This man’s quest for a satisfying job took him on a journey from being a techie to a cabbie!
Life in a metro is no piece of cake. People get drowned in the hustle and bustle of a city, and more often than not, they tend to overlook the more positive things happening around them.
Considering the madness that surrounds a city life, most things are taken at face value. Be it an autorickshaw driver or a bus conductor, for us they are people who serve the city and nothing more. However, if you dive deep, most of them have a story of their own.
Such is the story of Deepak, a driver with Taxi-For-Sure in Bangalore. Believe it or not, he was once a techie serving for HP.
Riddhi Maniar Doda, a marketing communications specialist, who booked a cab one morning to get to work, met Deepak. Soon she was impressed by his fluency in English and excitedly asked him for more details. What Deepak revealed is an amazing story.
According to Riddhi’s Facebook post, Deepak S., who is a taxi driver working for Taxi-For-Sure, app-based cab service, was actually a techie who worked with HP for 8 years.
What happened suddenly? Just that the corporate life was too messy, he told her.
Drawing inspiration from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deepak chased his desire to serve the nation. One fine day, he quit his high-flying IT job and joined Taxi-For-Sure as a cab driver. Now, he not only tries to provide the best possible service to his customers, but also teaches other cab drivers how to behave with customers and on how to maintain the reputation of their cab service.
Deepak’s story is not new to Riddhi alone. There’ve been others too who have met him and many have even offered him to join their company for a hefty pay. However, Deepak refused to accept any of these offers, saying he is satisfied with what he is doing in life now.
Here’s what Riddhi has to say about him:
I didn’t know what I was in for when we booked the cab to go to work today. I was feeling all grumpy as our newly booked car was yet to arrive and TaxiForSure was becoming more of an everyday thing.
The first thing that struck as odd was when we received a call from the taxi driver who spoke in amazingly fluent English… we thought it was a call from their Corporate Office.
When we sat in the cab, after the customary starting of the fare counter, he asked us, “Which tracks would you like me to play? I have Honey Singh.” I couldn’t hold my curiosity and asked him, “How do you speak such good English?”
His reply: “Well, I have worked with HP for 8 years. I found the corporate life too messy. I wanted to serve others and was also inspired by the words of NaMo to do something for the country. I researched a lot and decided to quit my job. I decided to drive a cab to meet people from all strata of society. I also groom other taxi drivers to behave well with customers, keep the car clean and more. In my own way, I am improving the experience for people.”
A lot of HR professionals that he has driven around have offered him jobs with hefty packages at MNCs but he’s refused. In his words,”Just like Steve Jobs said – the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. I feel very satisfied doing this.”
I mentioned that he was writing a new chapter to encourage dignity of labour in India. He said, “A lot of neighbours look down upon me whereas their own sons are working at petrol pumps or waiting tables in U.S.A. and France.”
On asking if his story had been published in any media, he said, “I don’t want any publicity. I have a few passengers taking selfies and uploading on Facebook, which is fine.”
As I reached my destination, he obliged me with a selfie and reminded that he did not want any media coverage – just Facebook is ok. I asked for his name and Facebook profile. He said, “It’s Deepak S.”
He made sure that he went to some shops to get the change of Rs. 500 unlike any other cab or auto driver in Bangalore.
Deepak shook hands with me and parted with “Bye Buddy.” I reached office with a lot more sunshine in my heart and renewed faith in #humanity.
(I could not find him on Facebook but with these photos, I hope that many of my friends get a chance to journey in his cab and get #inspired.)#humansofbangalore
Here’s her original Facebook post:
I didn’t know what I was in for when we booked the cab to go to work today. I was feeling all grumpy as our newly booked…
Posted by Riddhi Maniar Doda on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Posted by Riddhi Maniar Doda on Tuesday, April 14, 2015
While Deepak is not interested in media publicity, his story is too inspiring to ignore.
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