An auto rickshaw driver with a difference

"Annadurai is always thinking of enhancing and bettering his services. He provides free transport to teachers and nurses who work in hospitals that treat HIV patients"

“Common people are often enough; that is why God made so many of them. Your job is to be-EXTRAORDINARY.”

- Shannon L. Alder

Everyone does something for a living, but some people do it with such passion that they create landmarks. A shared auto rickshaw driver in Chennai is making news by equipping his auto with goodies-free Wi-Fi, mobile charging facility, 30 magazines, eight newspapers, TV and a tablet to access the Internet. He keeps a collection of popular film songs to entertain the passengers. When his story went viral on Facebook, he was pleasantly surprised.

Let’s see the background of this 31-year-old auto driver. G Annadurai, a native of Peravurani (Thanjavur District), is a Class XII dropout. He came to Chennai at the age of four with two brothers and a sister. His father was a poor farmer. His mother instilled in him the values of helping others and doing something good for society. He now lives in Injambakkam and has been driving an auto for six years. Two years ago, with the aim of doing something for his customers, he stocked his auto with around 20 newspapers. Gradually, he added other things to make the journey worthwhile for the passengers, who were mostly from the IT sector.

Annadurai is always thinking of enhancing and bettering his services. He provides free transport to teachers and nurses who work in hospitals that treat HIV patients. He offers discounts on Mother’s Day, Women’s Day, Children’s Day and Independece Day. Consequently, more people prefer to travel in his auto-this gives him great satisfaction. He organises customer relationship contests in which his commuters have to answer five questions about their experience of travelling in his auto. A prize of Rs.1000 is given to the winner. He regularly takes feedback and suggestions from passengers and acts on them. Annadurai earns around Rs.1,000 a day. He drives from 8 am to 1 pm and then from 5 pm to 11 pm. His rates are slightly less than those of other auto drivers.

Anna is now a much sought after speaker on ‘building customer loyalty’ in corporate circles. He has about 10,000 followers on Facebook. He has delivered about fifty speeches for employees of renowned companies like Vodafone, L&T, and Johnson & Johnson etc. He has the honour of delivering two TED talks. His speeches on YouTube are very popular. His simple lifestyle and innovative manner of equipping his auto has won the hearts of many people around the world.

Annadurai faced problems in giving change to the passengers, so he got a swipe machine whereby they can pay through debit or credit cards. His parents are keen to get him married, but Anna is trying to find a life partner who would allow him to continue the lifestyle which he has been following.

This auto driver, lovingly called ‘Auto anna’ by his customers, sponsors the education of a poor child and inspired three of his passengers to do so. He plans to open an old age home in future. He is planning to launch an app through which the customers can book seats and also track the location. He is a firm believer in God and prays daily.