Dubai: In India, a taxi driver has won hearts on social media after he waited with two women for more than an hour, past 1am, after the gate to their residence wouldn’t open.
Priyashmita Guha and her mother would have been stranded alone in the middle of the night, if her driver, Santosh, had not insisted to stay behind with them. In a twitter post, Guha thanked the driver for his kindness and appreciated his gesture.
She posted (@priyashmita): “…Last night the place we were staying at had their gate closed. It was 1am. He refused to let us go and waited for one and a half hours till we got in. Kudos to him. Mum and I eternally grateful.”
Her comment received more than 1,000 retweets and 4,000 likes.
hey @Uber_India , wanted to tell you about your driver Santosh. Last night the place we were staying had it's gate was closed. It was 1 AM. He refused to let us go & waited for 1.5 hours till we got in. Kudos to him. Mom and I eternally grateful pic.twitter.com/tIjz9n2A8O
— Priyashmita Guha (@priyashmita) October 14, 2018
Many international surveys state that India is not a safe place for women, and even more so after the #MeToo movement has named and shamed many sexual predators in positions of power. Online users praised Santosh for his behaviour and encouraged more people to be like him.
Tweep @sangeetasanghvi encouraged the company to offer some “rewards” when drivers “go an extra mile” for their customers.
@navdeepsoni posted: “…pass on the messages he is getting from people on twitter. Let’s appreciate and keep him motivated. We need people like him.”
And @ASpoonFullOfMe said that the driver’s act was “humanity beyond boundaries” and his gesture should be a “lesson” for everyone.
While @MNAHUS posted: “We need such dedicated and caring staff. That is the call of the day. Hope [the company] compensates him with some good memento so that the other staff will also follow suit.”
The company responded to the tweets and said they would notify the driver of the attention he received on social media.
According to the report published by newspaper India Times, the driver refused to take the next customer who was trying to book his cab, just so that he didn’t have to leave the two women alone in the middle of the night.
