'Amazing Auto' Annadurai. Some of you might have heard of him. For those who haven't here you go.
My short journey in his auto started with - "Akka, how many of you are Tamil here? I'll ask three questions and for each correct answer I'll give you Rs.5. What is coffee, helicopter and auto in Tamil?" Everyone including me were surprised and a bit confused. But the curious me blurted out the answer for the first one. He appreciated and offered his promised prize money which I politely declined. He insisted, shoved it into my hand and asked me, "Will you deny a promotion or felicitation in your office for your excellence? Treat this as one." I had to take it now. Slowly the atmosphere of the auto began to set in. Guess what? It had the latest popular magazines in English and Tamil, today's newspapers like The Hindu, Economic Times and two others. It didn't stop there.
In one of the pictures you can see small notices stuck in line. One said free WiFi and had the username and password on it. Trust me, it did connect. Another said something about Customer Relationship Development Contest. It supposedly had five questions and anyone who answers those five questions would be gifted a voucher worth Rs 1000 within a month.
Auto rides are free for teachers, free on mother's day for those mothers coming with their kids, cards accepted even for a ride of Rs.10. The auto was full of surprises. So I asked him to tell about himself as I was curious. I learnt that he is a school drop out, driving his own auto, spending on all this out of his pocket. He has two TED talks to his credit and his fondly called Amazing Auto Anna and he smiled and said people call me entrepreneur these days. He is often called to give motivational speeches in many IT companies. He recently flagged off a CEO marathon and actually met Frank, CEO of Cognizant Technology Solutions and many others.
I asked him many questions but his answers to two of them left me spell bound. I asked him what was his actual idea of making this auto. He said please don't call this an idea. I'm not as great as Edison or Einstein to come up with ideas. Next, I asked him what was he aiming to achieve through this. For which, he said he who lives with an aim to achieve something can never live in peace. It will push you into a never ending race of what next.
This person and my experience in his auto was a very different experience. An eye opener? A lesson? I don't know what to call it. But I realized nothing matters more than the happiness you get out of doing what you feel is right to your conscience and what YOU think is your HAPPINESS.
He earns around 45k a month and spends nearly 9 to 10k on arranging these amenities. Not married. And his next plan is to have similar autos running in the city from next financial year.
Update: I forgot to mention that the auto had Free iPad Pro and Tablet browsing for the customers as they travel. And,
Coffee is 'Kuzhambi', Helicopter is 'Ulangurthi' and Auto is 'Thaani' in tamil :)
Update: I forgot to mention that the auto had Free iPad Pro and Tablet browsing for the customers as they travel. And,
Coffee is 'Kuzhambi', Helicopter is 'Ulangurthi' and Auto is 'Thaani' in tamil :)
I wish you all the best Anna!
His website: http://www.amazingauto.in
Facebook profile: https://m.facebook.com/Amazingauto5758?tsid=0.3557935596301389&source=typeahead
The auto in which I traveled:
The auto in which I traveled:
