Thiruvananthapuram: Auto driver gives free ride to cancer patients as ‘atonement’
Thiruvananthapuram: Abdul Rasheed, 55, resident of Rajeev Nagar at All Saints College Junction, gives free rides in his auto rickshaw to cancer patients and their relatives from Regional Cancer Centre to their nearby lodges and also to Thampanoor Railway Station and bus depot . It was an incident which happened four years ago that changed his life forever. With great contrition, he recalled that he took the auto fare from the parents of a three-month-old baby girl affected with cancer and that is what prompted him to give free rides to cancer patients and their relatives.
Mr. Rasheed remembered that a couple got into his autorickshaw (KL 01 AE 5084 Farzana – Shahana named after his granddaughters) from Kesavadasapuram to RCC carrying their three-month-old baby girl who was affected with intestine cancer. They gave him Rs 12 which was the minimum auto fare then. But only after a few minutes of dropping them did he feel remorseful for taking the money from them. For weeks he roamed the streets of Kesavadasapuram and RCC to return the auto fare and to know the well-being of the infant.
“Unfortunately I still don’t know whether the baby survived or not. For days I could not sleep and decided to give free trips for cancer patients’ lodge and to Thampanoor. I hired a painter to write, behind my auto rickshaw, the details in Malayalam, English and Tamil that I provide free trips to cancer affected people”, said Mr. Rasheed who gives between 10 – 20 free trips every day. He starts his day at 6:30 am and fills his vehicle with two litres of petrol and reaches RCC and criss-crosses the capital city until 9 pm.
He admits that he does not have the habit of eating breakfast, but eats lunch only from home prepared by his 50-year-old wife, Nazeera Beevi. They have got two sons who are daily wage labourers. Mr. Rasheed, who has been driving the autorickshaw for the last 38 years, has asked DC readers to pray for the speedy recovery of all patients who come to RCC.
