The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : He made someone’s day

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Thursday, May 15, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

He made someone’s day

Zohrab Reys Gamat

Auto driver tracks down owner of a wallet

Gurudev Aradhya

BANGALORE: The average autorickshaw driver may not top the popularity polls but the best amongst the lot can win hands down. Certainly there are the “double meter” individuals who are difficult and misanthropic but there are those who hold their own with Bangalore’s finest.

This is what Thammaiah, a superintendent at the Indian Institute of Plantation Management, discovered when he was helped by “a pious, gem of an auto driver”.

Gurudev Aradhya, the auto driver, was on duty near the Ambedkar Institute of Technology in the evening on Wednesday, and happened to be driving behind Mr. Thammaiah’s vehicle, when he spotted Mr. Thammaiah’s wallet fall on the road. He picked it up and veered in and out of traffic to reach Mr. Thammaiah. “The vehicle was too fast and I could not catch up,” recollects Mr. Aradhya.

He then stopped to examine the contents of the wallet and tried to contact Mr. Thammaiah’s office but he had already left. Looking again, he found the contact details amongst a couple of credit cards, passbooks, chequebook and some money.

He called the mobile number and spoke to an anxious Mr. Thammaiah who was frantically looking for his wallet.

An overwhelmed Mr. Thammaiah said: “I realised that the purse was missing after I had travelled three-fourth of the distance. He called me within 50 seconds of having instructed the security to search. I thanked him profusely and compelled him to take Rs. 500 for his kind behaviour.”The two had arranged to meet near Mr. Thammaiah’s office at Jnanabharathi.

“There is no benefit in taking what is not mine. It is not the outcome of my hard work and belongs to someone else. Once someone left a mobile phone in my vehicle, I returned that too,” said Mr. Aradhya.

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