Life-saver on three wheels

Borabanda: It is a case of extraordinary service by a common man in the city. Contribute his mite towards humanity, an auto driver has been providing free services 24/7 to pregnant women to reach the hospital during the time of emergency.

Sanjay Mydari, 59, a resident of the Borabanda area near Erragadda, took upon this humanitarian task 19 years ago and has since been relentlessly providing free ride to the needy in his auto.

A cancer survivor, he has provided this service to more than 3,500 pregnant women till date. He has also been extending this service to the elderly people and the differently abled.

Speaking to the Hans India, Sanjay said, "In 1998, my wife was pregnant with our child and during the middle of the night, she had a sudden pain. I came out of my house in search of transport, I could find a few auto-rickshaws, but none of them were ready to take us to the hospital."

Sanjay had to arrange a cycle rickshaw and with the help of it, took his wife to Niloufer hospital in Lakdi-ka-pul from Borabanda. When they reached the hospital, the doctors declared that the child could not be saved. They could have saved the child if they had brought her half an hour earlier.

This incident shattered both the parents and Sanjay then decided to leave his mason profession and become an auto-driver to serve the pregnant woman for free.

Over the years he has expanded this free service to the elderly and the differently abled. The way Sanjay operates his regular service is also different from the way other drivers operate. He doesn't charge the fare of the rickshaw on the basis of the meter and does not demand a specific amount.

He takes people to their desired destination and asks them to pay whatever the passengers feel like giving him. However, there have been many people who have taken advantage of this service.

He said, "There have been many people who don't pay the actual amount which they had to but that makes no difference to me. By god's grace there also have been many people who have actually paid more than the amount which they had to. When I used to question them about it, they always asked me to keep the rest of the money."