Nagarajan, Auto Driver. Adyar.
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I call him these days whenever I need to go anywhere. Sometimes even when I would rather go by bus. Or cycle.
They need rides.
Simple lives. Simple dreams. All around us.
He was talking to me along the way. He was happy to talk. Maybe not many people listen. He told me when I asked, that times are still very hard. That earlier in his stand daily 100 commuters would come. Now not ever 10 in a day. That people stay scared.
Many days he has no ride at all.
He was not complaining. Just talking.
He said how his growing up days were very very difficult. He lost his parents when he was young, and he grew up with his uncles family. In Pondicherry. How by earning before and after school hours he managed to study till 10th. And then he needed to start earning. His uncle's family got him married and then gave him 10000/- and send him away saying he needed to now manage.
They came away to Chennai then hoping there would be more opportunity. Life was a struggle. But slowly their lot improved. Over 30 years.
He is now the proud owner of an auto. They also built a tiny home on 600 sq feet he told he happily. They have also built on tne first floor two 300 sq feet units. Which he rents for a small sum.
He has two sons. He has put the elder boy in an English medium school where term frames are an unaffordable 40000/-. Even in this lockdown he's had to pay. I told him its illegal to collect fees but he did not wish to protest as they will 'torture the child'. Somehhow he raised money. Evening he sends the children to tuition. Again at heavy cost. He says their academic standards is mediocre.
He says his children will never understand what real struggle means in life. The way he and his wife have struggled.
He speaks of his wife's two sisters whom he had got married off. They are very well he said. One has a home and a car, her husband did well in the garlic business. The other is also well off.
There is no envy. He is glad with his own lot. A small home. And an auto.
He only seeks work. In hard times.
People in Adyar, Besent Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, please call up when you need to travel. People further away too, he is glad to come anywhere.
Meet Nagarajan. Auto Driver.
Nowadays I take autos whenever I can. Sometimes even when I would normally cycle. They need rides.
Some people worry that they can catch Corona in autos. My point is that when your time on earth is up something will catch you. If not Corona, then something else. Meantime we need to live a life that is not utterly selfish. That's all.
He asked me in the ride if I knew Sharadha Shankar. He said she had called him up and said another lady had given her his number, and he wondered if it was me. That she asked him to collect details of other auto drivers. And he sent her her a list of auto drivers in his stand and the next stand.
And substantial rations of rice and dal were given to all. Sharadha is like that. I'm proud to know her. She was raising local funds to support local vendors. She keeps doing what she can all time. She never talks about it. It's all done quietly. She gave Paalaguttapalle an order for 1300 wedding bags for a family wedding. The big wedding never happened due to Corona. She paid them, and is figuring out what to do with the bags.
Nagarajan has put his son in Nellai Nadar school. Yesterday he went and paid 25000/- fees and 13000/- towards uniform and books. Taking fees is illegal. But he said he was threatened with a TC of he didnt pay. He said he didnt need uniform as it was lockdown times. But they said it was compulsory.
In times of no earnings hes paid about 40000/- to this school.
I hear these stories that I wish I didnt have to hear. All the time.
Then we were talking of the lockdown. He was full of sympathy for the migrant labour. Saying that they suffered like no one should. They the government could have made it easier for them. By organizing stay and giving clear details on trains.
He suddenly asked me if I knew Nityanand Jayaraman. I said I did. He said he knows him well. All local people know him. I told him to discuss the school fees with him. Schools by law cannot take fees in these times.
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