How this Mumbai cab driver's intelligence saved a young girl from rowdies at midnight

In a day and age where TV channels and news portals are crying headlines of women being harassed, raped and murdered in our country, this story of a cab driver saving a young woman will reinstill your faith in humanity.

The story, featured on Humans of Bombay Facebook page among several other moving stories, took place 2-3 years back when an aged taxi driver spotted a girl walking from a bus stop towards her home in the dead of the night.

“....I noticed a young girl, not over 25 walking from the bus stop, possibly towards her home. It was one of those dingy lanes where there aren't a lot of people. I noticed her, because she looked very anxious and when I looked behind her I saw these 2-3 drunk fellows whistling, and calling her names," he said, as he remember the spine chilling incident which unfolded that day.

The driver who was still across the street watching the miscreants, started to get worried when they started chasing the girl. An idea struck him right then.

"....I decided to start honking continuously. The noise created enough alarm, because they were startled and immediately ran away in the other direction," he said.

Even as he managed to scare away the rowdies, it was half the job done. He then crossed over the road to offer the girl a safe ride back home.
He narrated her emotions - "She was so terrified, she had gone completely pale. We drove in silence for those 2-3 minutes....her house was just around the corner, but when she stepped outside, she caught both my hands, started weeping and thanked me over and over again. Even though I said it's okay and that I would have done it for anyone, she insisted that I wait outside while she went in to get something."

Not all men are as noble as this man. He said in Humans of Bombay story, that he has worked as a cab driver for 35 years. He is old, but still has to support himself.

No one comes to his rescue like he did that day.

"Over the years there have been so many experiences -- I've seen the best and worst of this city. Sometimes, people like you will talk to me, atleast make me feel human and then there are others who come and scream at me because they're in a hurry and there's too much traffic," he said.

That night, however, the aggrieved girl whose life he saved, could not thank the driver enough for coming to her rescue, and returned from the house with a box of sweets for him.

"She came out with a tin of rasgullas and told me to take them home to my family -- I thanked her and left. I barely knew her for 10 minutes, but I don't think I'll ever forget that night..."

Not all heroes wear a cap; some may be hidden in grey uniforms too.