With Auto Raja- An Angel for the beggars and the unwanted

Have you heard of a person called ‘Auto Raja’? He is a former auto driver whose formal educational qualification is Standard III, though he has received an honorary doctorate later. He was a thief, a goonda, and a convict at a very young age. But now, he is a transformed person. He hugs and saves every destitute he sees on the streets. He feeds them, he gives them a place to stay in his ‘Home of Hope’ at Bangalore, and he takes care of all their needs to give them a life and death with dignity. The events related to Narayanan who went missing on a fine day (described me in the earlier article (click here to read)), led me to Auto Raja.

Here below the excerpts of Raja’s long conversation with me:

What was your inspiration for starting this great initiative to care for the poor and needy?

I do not know exactly. I have not seen Mother Teresa. But I have heard about her. I was a neglected person in the childhood. Everyone hated me because I used to steal money and things from others. I studied only upto 3rd standard. Even at that time I used to steal from my classmates. I used to beat other children if they didn’t pay me paisa. So they used to pay me 10 paisa, 5 paisa etc. to get rid of me. I robbed my mother’s mangal sutra and sold to get money. I stole mother’s silk saree and sold it. I used to spend the money for partying and cinema with friends. Finally my parents threw me out of my house. I slept on the streets, bus stand, railway station, foot path etc.  I went to Chennai and I was caught by Police there. I was jailed and stayed along with about 300 persons. They didn’t give me any fresh pair of clothes. I used the same pant and shirt I wore to wipe after bath. Entire area was smelling bad. I couldn’t go to toilet for many days. I became sick and  felt miserable. I thought I would die in the cell. I was just 16 at that time. I prayed and cried to God: ‘Are you there to help me?’ I wept there and prayed for more hours, though another 300 people were around watching me. After my long prayer, which I did for the first time in my life, my entire body sweated, which was very unusual. I sweat profusely. Suddenly I felt relieved from all pain, fever, and the sore throat. I felt that God has answered my prayer. For the first time I felt the presence of God and instantly believed that there is someone who still loves me. I prayed to God again intensely. ‘God, hear my prayer once again. If you take me out of this jail before this Christmas, I will live a worthy life for you’.  That was the time my parents who lived in a far away native place came to know that I am in the prison. They came all the way to Chennai. They took the help of an advocate and got me out of the jail.

What was the response of your parents after you were released from the Jail?

 I fell on the feet of my parents. I told my dad: ‘I have got a new lease of life dad. I don’t want to get destroyed again’. He gave me Rs 1000 and with that I registered for a licence to drive auto and became an auto driver. But as I was driving auto in the streets, my eyes would go straight to those people who sleep on the streets, the beggars at signals, and the orphan children on the road. I felt compassionate to them. I never had any such feeling ever towards anyone including my parents. But the new life had transformed me miraculously. I got an instant craving to go and hug those beggars on the streets. I asked God: ‘How could you leave those children you created in your image to live in such miserable conditions?’ I got the answer later: ‘I have created people like you to help them!’

With your meagre income as an auto driver, how did you manage the resources to help the beggars and the unwanted?

I started helping them in a humble way. The news of mother Teresa’s death reached me during that period. I saw her photos in the newspapers and heard about how she saved those who were about to die on the streets. I started reaching out to those unfortunate ones. I brought a few of them to my own house. We had a small shed in front of our house where my dad used to park his two-wheeler. I accommodated them there. I cleaned their wounds, shaved and bathed them and gave food. 

There are a few people who criticized me also: ‘Look at the thief, who used to rob people! Now he is trying to become a saint. He is just acting to get sympathy from people’. But I continued my work. I understood the need for a larger place as I came across more people who led an invalid life on the streets. I named my place ‘Home of Hope’. After about an year I approached an NGO called ‘India Campus Crusade for Christ’ located nearby. They visited my place and understood the need and offered to help. After about 2 years they bought a land for my work which can accommodate 50 persons. But the number of persons I brought from the streets went above 200. Meanwhile Chief Minister of the state helped me in purchasing another piece of land where a building was constructed to accommodate about 250 men. I accommodate about 50 orphan children in a nearby house.

I rescued more than 5000 people from the streets. More than 2800 people died in our home. We ask them their last wish and try to fulfil that. I am very happy to see their smile. 

Tell me about your family. Did they support you in your venture?

I prayed to God that he should give me means to take care of my wife, children and parents so that I can fully work for the poor. We stay in the same building where the destitute ladies stay as our own family members. My wife looks after them along with my relatives.  I am the dad for not only my two daughters and son, but also for all the 500 persons in the Home of Hope.

Click here to see a short film (4.47 minutes) on Auto Raja

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Towering bosses

Eat well to lose weight: Tips from an enlightened foodie

A Chartered Accountant with a difference

Who loves butterflies? Conversation with an Installation Artist

The ‘missing’ Narayanan and the Auto Raja- A living angel

On 9th November 2012, Mrs Uma, wife of an officer in the Indian Air Force at Trivandrum filed an FIR at the Peroorkada Police Station, Trivandrum as follows:

“My father Shri T.R. Narayanan, 80 years,  who was staying with me in Trivandrum at Planning Board Lane, Rajalakshmi Nagar, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram has been missing since 8th November 2012. He is a dementia patient and has no clear memory; consequently he is under essential, regular medication. He went out for a walk on 8th November in the afternoon between 12.30 and 1 pm. He has not returned till date”

Narayanan was the second son of M V Ramaswamy Iyer and Ranganayakki who were agriculturists owning more than 400 acres of paddy land at Palakkad, Kerala. They gave employment to many people and also personally toiled to produce paddy and other agricultural commodities. That was the time Kerala embraced the communist rule (first time in the world a communist government was democratically elected). Ramaswamy Iyer lost the entire 400 acres of land in the ‘communist revolution’ when the ‘tiller became the owner’. On a fine day he became landless. He was not in a position to fight a legal battle. He died when his son Narayanan was just 11 years old. As the entire family property of many generations was lost, Narayanan started going for stenography classes immediately after completing his matriculation. He travelled to Bombay in search of a job. As he couldn’t get a proper job, he reached Bangalore and later got placed in the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. He brought his younger sister and mother to Bangalore and took up the responsibility of the education and marriage of his sister. He got married to Saroja and had two children Uma and Vidya. His wife died when he was 57.

Narayanan was a source of inspiration for his daughters throughout his life. Once both of them got married, he chose to stay alone without disturbing any of the daughters. He cooked himself, did gardening, maintained the house and enjoyed his old age. He used to go and stay with his daughters for a few days during festivals and birthdays. He was proud and confident being healthy and independent. But the daughters noticed something strange soon. He started forgetting the names of the close relatives. He lost the way to the house of his daughter. He forgot his own landline number.

Daughters of Narayanan quickly realized the need for a panic button.  Narayanan was losing his memory very rapidly. Narayanan was staying with his daughter Uma at Trivandrum till the morning of 8th Nov 2012, the day he was found missing. The details were published in newspapers. Announcements were made in Doordarshan and a local channel. Daughters met the Chief Minister at his residence and handed over a written petition seeking his help to trace their father. Meanwhile an auto driver reported that he saw the missing person crossing the road at PMG junction with the help of a Policeman on a particular day. From the CCTV footage at the traffic signal the policeman identified Narayanan. Frantic searches were made in all possible directions across Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  Posters were put up at prominent locations and letters were sent to all old age homes and Ashrams. 

After several months, a letter was received from the  ‘Home of Hope’ a charitable organization run by a person called ‘Auto Raja’ at Bangalore confirming that Bangalore Police had handed over Mr Narayanan to them on 10th November 2012 and he had a peaceful death at their home on 23rd November. Narayanan  was  found  sitting alone in the Marathahalli Ring Road (Narayanan had  lived in the house in that location for about 40 years) and a conscientious passer-by  reported that to the police after it was found that he was unable to recall the address of his daughters. He was just mumbling ‘my daughter…my daughter’. The people from the ‘Home of Hope’  cremated him on 24th November 2012 as per the Hindu rites seeing his poonal.  They had taken the picture of Mr Narayanan on the day of arrival and also of his body after he was no more.

Friends, be aware...

Next time when you see a person sitting lonely on the street, remember he could be a person who had lost his memory and yearning to get united with his/her dear ones! Naryanan’s two daughters, Uma and Vidya were devastated when they heard that their loving dad had roamed on all streets in Trivandrum and Bangalore looking for the houses of his daughters. Imagine the plight of a person who had lost his memory and unable to find his way to sweet home!

Dementia or the specific disorder called Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease, a progressive brain cell death. As per the World Alzheimer Report 2013, ‘nearly half of the 101 million dependent older people in the world are living with and experiencing the effects of dementia’.

The WHO Dementia report estimated that ‘there are 7.7 million new cases of dementia each year, implying that there is a new case of dementia somewhere in the world every four seconds’. It calls for the following:

- promoting a dementia-friendly society globally;

- making dementia a national public health and social care priority worldwide;

- improving public and professional attitudes to, and understanding of, dementia;

- investing in health and social systems to improve care and services for people with dementia and
   their caregivers;

- increasing the priority given to dementia in the public health research agenda.

  (One can read the full report here: http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/dementia_report_2012/en/ )

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Narayanan has gone for ever. But we have a few angels like Auto Raja who serve hundreds of destitute people who have stranded on the streets of our cities.

After knowing about the above incident from Vidya, daughter of Narayanan, I was curious to know more about the person called Auto Raja who took care of her father and given him a dignified funeral. I found out his address and spent two days with him to know about his great service. You can read about that (along with a short film) in another article. (click here to read)

                                                                    (c) Sibichen K Mathew