have you had the pleasure of sitting in a taxi that is privately owned, whose driver posses a New York City Taxi Medallion??? out of the thousands of nyc taxi cabs, there are a handful that are actually owned (i think it’s like 12) and maintained by the driver… these cabs enjoy a series of benefits, for example, they don’t have to posses the plastic divide between the front seats and the back bench; though at a steep price, this particular driver bought the medallion in 1981 for $75 000, he estimates it will be worth more than triple that by the time he retires… anyway, this is what started the conversation between myself and driver, om dutta sharma…
a few weeks ago i had the pleasure of conversing with this sort of philosopher for a short trip from union square to my place… i wish it had lasted longer because he was the most pleasant taxi cab driver, and awe-inspiring… he came to nyc in the 70s from india, where he was an income tax official, and eventually resorted to the taxi business, as he has always enjoyed driving and he loves to share with the passengers… beyond his wisdom is this incredibly generous nature…
om dutta sharma is a hero in his home town, doobher kishanpur, india… he and his wife live a frugal life by new york standards but in india they are philanthropists who have devoted their savings towards Ram Kali, the school for girls that he gave his village in 1997, named after his illiterate mother… since then, the school has expanded tremendously, offering free education and access to necessities such as regular physical exams by a local doctor… his contributions have made possible the opportunity for hundreds of girls to have an education beyond the primary years that is typical of small villages, where a boy’s chances of learning to read and write are much higher as many villager’s do not believe in co-education…
in addition to his family’s contributions, om dutta sharma has accepted donations from his customers and later this year, a hollywood movie will be released about his story, with proceeds going straight to the school that has educated so many young girls… education is future…
www.missionhumanity.com
