Raj Kumar Singh - Being Good, Rickshaw Driver, Mumbai

While getting off a rickshaw saddled with a few heavy bags last afternoon, I heard a sound of something dropping and so turned to look back into the rickshaw. I checked the seat, the floor and around the rickshaw. Not finding anything and wanting to relieve myself of the weight I was carrying, I hurriedly rushed into my building. It was then that I realised, that it was the sound of my phone that I had heard being dropped. 

I ran, calling out to the receding rickshaw but to my dismay he was far gone despite my enthusiastic sprint. I didn't take the rickshaw number and obviously didn't know the driver's name. I reached home all huffed up and dolefully narrated the incident to my son. We quickly tried calling my phone but it rang for a few minutes and after that a pre-recorded message from the service provider said that the phone was switched off or unavailable! My battery was at 1% before I had got off the rickshaw - so clearly the battery had died out. 

"Don't worry Mama, it happens! Maybe he will call back if he finds it." I rolled my eyes and called my service provider to inform them of the loss so that there could be no misuse of the card. I also took out a spare phone and got a new SIM put into it, which would get activated the next morning as there were some technical errors in the backend. 

So here I was phone-less and going about my evening, when at about 7.45pm my husband rushed into the room saying, "Priya your phone has been found by a rickshaw driver called Raj Kumar Singh, in Bhayendar. Call him back on your own phone number immediately." 

I jumped with joy and promptly dialled the number - it was the same driver that had dropped me off. "Madam, aapka mobile hamaari gaadi ke kone mein mila. Dukaan par aana pada ussey charge karne ke liye kyonki battery mar gayi thi. Lekin ab main Bhayendar main hoon toh aap kal tak wait kar sakte hain, kya? Main aapke paas lekar aaoonga." 

He was unfamiliar with an #iPhone and so had to go to a store to charge it. He then called a random number in my contact list who in-turn gave him my father's number - Papa then called my husband. And sure enough next morning at about 11.15 am he coordinated the address details till Andheri and came by to my building to drop off my phone in perfect condition. 

Three cheers to MH.47.C.2076 and Mr. Raj Kumar Singh for #beinggood <3 #rickshaw #mumbaipublictransport#beinggood #peoplearegood #goodnessstory Priya Sharma Shaikh Being Good

Do check out the video too - 

While getting off a rickshaw saddled with a few heavy bags last afternoon, I heard a sound of something dropping and so turned to look back into the rickshaw. I checked the seat, the floor and around the rickshaw. Not finding anything and wanting to relieve myself of the weight I was carrying, I hurriedly rushed into my building. It was then that I realised, that it was the sound of my phone that I had heard being dropped. 

I ran, calling out to the receding rickshaw but to my dismay he was far gone despite my enthusiastic sprint. I didn't take the rickshaw number and obviously didn't know the driver's name. I reached home all huffed up and dolefully narrated the incident to my son. We quickly tried calling my phone but it rang for a few minutes and after that a pre-recorded message from the service provider said that the phone was switched off or unavailable! My battery was at 1% before I had got off the rickshaw - so clearly the battery had died out. 

"Don't worry Mama, it happens! Maybe he will call back if he finds it." I rolled my eyes and called my service provider to inform them of the loss so that there could be no misuse of the card. I also took out a spare phone and got a new SIM put into it, which would get activated the next morning as there were some technical errors in the backend. 

So here I was phone-less and going about my evening, when at about 7.45pm my husband rushed into the room saying, "Priya your phone has been found by a rickshaw driver called Raj Kumar Singh, in Bhayendar. Call him back on your own phone number immediately." 

I jumped with joy and promptly dialled the number - it was the same driver that had dropped me off. "Madam, aapka mobile hamaari gaadi ke kone mein mila. Dukaan par aana pada ussey charge karne ke liye kyonki battery mar gayi thi. Lekin ab main Bhayendar main hoon toh aap kal tak wait kar sakte hain, kya? Main aapke paas lekar aaoonga." 

He was unfamiliar with an #iPhone and so had to go to a store to charge it. He then called a random number in my contact list who in-turn gave him my father's number - Papa then called my husband. And sure enough next morning at about 11.15 am he coordinated the address details till Andheri and came by to my building to drop off my phone in perfect condition. 

Three cheers to MH.47.C.2076 and Mr. Raj Kumar Singh for #beinggood <3 #rickshaw #mumbaipublictransport#beinggood #peoplearegood #goodnessstory Priya Sharma Shaikh Being Good Do check out the video!

India wants more

Indians are a curious people. They have an unquenchable thirst for more. We believe in the word MORE, more than any nation. And this I believe is because we are used to plurality. For example, consider the number of languages, cuisine, cultures, clothing, Gods & Goddesses, customs, terrain, colour of skin etc. we have within our subcontinent. Clearly, variety is the name of the game and the people of this expansive land despite their strong individual belief have been accepting of the co-existing varieties that abound. And because there are so many types more often than not, in an average day you will witness or experience something new. The wonder of India is that there are are just so many types of Indians and ways of Indianness!  This typically Indian trait of wanting to see more has been captured beautifully in the #Amazon campaign "Aur Dikhao Aur Dikhao" 

This desire for more amongst Indians has grown multifold with the opening of markets and the internet. 

Today even the lower income group Indian is suddenly in touch with the world through handheld smart phones, sponging the juice that the world has to offer with an urgency like never before. It's almost like wanting to keep pace with the speed at which the world is forging ahead. Indians are an intelligent lot and have proved this on the world stage enough and more times. And yet there was a lack of exposure before the outburst of telecom across the country. With the onset of this revolutionary industry, the tiny screens have been made into a window to all that is happening in the world beyond. And we Indians are lapping it all up, learning from others, around the world. 

However, although it is great to ape the world for the amazing ways of life that they have achieved, Indians have to do so by sifting through what they see, hear and experience so that their minds and eyes open wider and they are willing to adopt newer ways of life that will enrich their otherwise rich culture and topography manifold. The quenching will undoubtedly take time but it will be sooner than later and before you know it they will be at par if not ahead of the world, as their desire for more ..will most certainly make them achieve more.