Favourites from my stint with Humans of Bombay
Credits: Humans of Bombay
I first spoke to Desraj ji, my would be interviewee, at the end of December 2020, when I was in a slump at work. I had interviewed over a hundred people in the past 5 months and was desperately looking for that one interview that would make me start to enjoy work again. The no wfh policy that my company had, had annoyed me to the core. Work just felt like never ending days within 4 walls and I had to literally drag myself out of the bed every morning, pat myself on the back and say, “You can do this!” Then one day, my friend Rashi called….
She was riding in Desraj ji’s auto and happened to strike a conversation with him only to uncover his mind-blowing story that would soon take the country by storm. She immediately passed on his number to me and the rest, as they say, is history.
Desraj’s story was powerful– He had sold his house to pay for his granddaughter’s education and was now living in his auto. But I never thought that it would, as the growls these days say, break the internet the way it did. I clearly remember that I was out shooting at Khotachiwadi with a colleague the day we posted Desraj ji’s story and my editor called me hurriedly to tell me that the post was going viral. It sank in only when Desraj called me soon after, to inform me that over 150 people had called him offering financial help.
We’ve stayed in touch on and off over the past two years. He informs me whenever something big or small happens in his family– like when his wife passed away last year, he texted me a “Meri wali guzar gayi…” and when his granddaughter passed with flying colours, he said, “Aapke liye Himachali laddu laya hoon”. Whenever I am in Bandra and walk past Khar danda naka, I wave at Desraj ji from a distance. He is usually busy with his passengers but never fails to wave back quickly and enquire in his usual calm demeanour, “Ram Ram Madamji, aap kaise ho?” If you are around, keep an eye out for Gaadi number 160 ….I can promise an honest ride and heartfelt conversations.
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