KOLKATA: Kolkata’s environment sensitive cab driver Dhananjay Chakraborty, who grabbed eyeballs five years ago by growing grass on the roof of his ambassador taxi, has now begun distributing Bengali children’s comics to passengers, especially the tiny ones, riding with him.
Immensely popular on social media by Facebook name ‘Bapi Green Taxi’, cab driver says his initiative is to encourage children to read more of comics and other books and stay away from smartphones.
“The idea of offering Bengali comics of ‘Batul the great’, ‘Handa Bhonda’ and ‘Nonte Fonte’ came to me when I once asked a child passenger whether he had heard about these characters and he replied in negative while scrolling through his smartphone. I was utterly disappointed as we middle-aged people and even the 90s generation grew up reading these comics. Since then, I vowed to attempt to make this small change,” he said.
While the dashboard of his taxi has been turned into a bookshelf, comics are neatly stacked on the back seat of the taxi. “Doesn’t matter whether you are riding for five kilometers or 15 kilometers, any passenger can read the comics and the books on the way,” he added. Apart from offering to read the books, passengers can also buy books from his cab at a discount.
Apart from his first taxi, Chakraborty has now launched another taxi which has been generously painted with caricatures of Kolkata icons and sensitisation slogans by artists impressed with his initiative.
“I was blown away when I first sat in this taxi. My children were first introduced to the world of Bengali comics from this unique taxi,” passenger Nandini Dasgupta said.
“The ambience inside the taxi gives a relaxed and cozy feeling. I have not seen many taxi drivers who are so innovative,” said another passenger Rajiv Burman.