Comedian Aditi Mittal's Twitter thread on how her Ola cab driver found his missing son - and his heartwarming gesture afterwards - has struck a chord with Twitter users. In her now-viral Twitter thread, Ms Mittal revealed that she was travelling to an open mic event in Mumbai when she overheard her cab driver's phone conversation.
"He was calling people, asking 'tum log ne mere bacche ko dekha kya? Woh tum log ke saath hai kya?' (Have you seen my child? Is he with you?)," Aditi Mittal revealed.
In call after call, she could overhear people at the other end answering in the negative. By that time, the cab driver's three-year-old son had been missing for an hour, and his wife was hysterical with fear.
His 3 year old son had been gone for an hour by then. I couldn't fathom how he was still so controlled by then, I would have been hysterical. He insisted that he would drop me to the destination since he needed the fare. I offered to pay the full fare.
— Toolkit for Hot Takes (@awryaditi) September 20, 2021
"I asked him where he lived, and if he wanted to go home and look for his kid instead of wasting his time ferrying me," Ms Mittal said. The cab driver declined her offer, saying that he needed the fare he would earn through her ride. The comedian then offered to pay his fare in full before getting down to take an autorickshaw for the rest of the journey.
"But I couldn't stop thinking about him," she said. "I had heard him talk to his wife on the phone and she had been crying so hard, I could hear her in the backseat from his phone."
Luckily, the missing three-year-old was found soon afterwards. While Ms Mittal was heading back from the event, she received a call from the cab driver informing her that his son had been found. "Apparently this three year old criminal had seen a Ganpati pandal and had wandered off with the procession, dancing and eating while his parents panicked," she said.
1.5 hours later, as I'm heading back home from the open mic, I get a call. It's the drivers wife. They found her son, apparently this three year old criminal had seen a ganpati pandal and had wandered off with the procession, dancing and eating while his parents panicked.
— Toolkit for Hot Takes (@awryaditi) September 20, 2021
But that's not the end of this story. The next morning, Ms Mittal says, she woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. It was the cab driver, waiting at the spot where he had picked her up the day before with a box of handmade naariyal modaks - sweets that are traditionally prepared during the Ganpati festival in Maharashtra.
It transpired that the Ola driver, too, had overheard Ms Mittal's conversation with a friend over the phone, during which she begged for homemade modaks.
"Jab aap phone pe baat kar rahe the, toh maine aapko kisi se naariyal modak maangte hue suna tha, toh maine mrs ko bola ki aapke liye bana de (when you were on the phone, I overheard you telling someone you wanted naariyal modak, so I told my wife to make some for you)," he told her.
"Jab aap phone pe baat kar rahe the, toh maine aapko kisi se naariyal modak maangte hue suna tha, toh maine mrs ko bola ki aapke liye bana de."
— Toolkit for Hot Takes (@awryaditi) September 20, 2021
(I was indeed begging a friend on the phone to send me her mom's handmade nariyal modaks at the start of the ride)
The Twitter thread has gone viral with thousands of 'likes' since being shared on Sunday.
In the comments section, Ola asked for the driver's details " to pass on the compliments to our driver-partner as well."
A good ride, happy endings, and delicious modaks ???? This is THE motivation we needed for kickstarting our Monday morning, Aditi. Can you also share the CRN of this ride with us via DM? We would love to pass on the compliments to our driver-partner as well ❤️
— Ola (@Olacabs) September 20, 2021
Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi called it a heartwarming way to begin the week.
Mumbai is all kind of ❤️
— Priyanka Chaturvedi???????? (@priyankac19) September 20, 2021
Heartwarming thread to begin the week ???????? https://t.co/RuitbxZCJ6
"Goodness and grace still exists as does a good chuckle when all ends well," said actor Roshan Abbas.
Read this. Goodness and grace still exists as does a good chuckle when all ends well https://t.co/sozsTs0SVO
— Roshan Abbas (@roshanabbas) September 20, 2021
Twitter users were touched by the story, praising both the driver and Ms Mittal for going the extra mile to help a total stranger.
Such a sweet story. Thank goodness the little munchkin is back home & probably stuffing his mouth with nariyal ke modak!!
— ???????????????????? (@WittyKittyVixxy) September 20, 2021
This is soo overwhelming, mumbai is a city with amazing and incredible people.
— Piyush Agrawal (@itspiyusha) September 20, 2021
What do you think? Let us know using the comments section.
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