Bangladesh cabbie is toast of NYC
A Bangladeshi immigrant taxi driver in New York is the toast of the
Big Apple after returning a $500,000 lost bag of diamond rings to
their rightful owner.
Osman Chowdhury's honesty has made him an instant celebrity,
propelling him onto the city's airwaves to receive the plaudits of
the great and the good.
He says that he is proud of what he did, because cab drivers are
honest.
In the same week, a cab driver of Indian origin in New York
returned a wallet containing nearly $6,000.
Owner traced
Forty-one-year-old Mr Chowdhury - a Bangladeshi green card holder -
was plying his trade as usual in Manhattan on Monday evening, when
a female passenger boarded his cab at a midtown Hotel.
The passenger got off at an apartment building on 35th
street.
She paid $11 for the $10.70 fare. But she left a bag full of
diamonds in the boot of the vehicle.
I think it's beautiful to see both so much praise for Mr Choudhury,
he richly deserves it
Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of New York City Taxi Workers'
Alliance
When the next set of passengers tried to put their luggage in the
boot, Mr Chowdhury found the bag.
But with the help of the New York City Taxi Workers' Alliance, a
cabbies' advocacy group, the bag was opened to reveal around 30
diamond rings, neatly tucked into cases.
There were some loose diamond rings too. There was also a laptop
and some business papers. Next Mr Chowdhury, with the help of the
taxi workers' alliance, had to contact the owner.
Eventually they found a Texas phone number in the bag, and after
repeated calls they traced the mother of the bag's owner.
Mr Chowdhury has received plaudits from far and wide
She in turn contacted her daughter, who came over to the alliance
office and thanked Mr Chowdhury profusely.
She tried to reward him, but he refused, saying that he had only
done his duty.
"I never thought about any reward or anything in return. I can
never keep anything that belongs to any other person. I have been
this way all my life," he said.
His honesty has led to a barrage of media interviews, with American
newspapers and TV stations - including international channels -
wanting to interview the "honest cabbie".
Reward
For the last two days he has also been interviewed by scores of
news organisations in the US and across the globe.
In addition, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has
honoured him with an Achievement Award for 2007. Even the City
Council of New York City has joined in, by given him a citation
praising his honesty.
And the word is that the New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg,
may announce a reward for him.
Mr Chowdhury is unfazed.
At his residence in Sunnyside, Queens in New York, he was his usual
humble self.
"I never imagined that I will be the centre of so much media
attention.
The cab driver is the talk of the town
"I'm proud of what I did. I hope my next generation will remember
what I did and follow me. I also want to tell people that New York
taxi drivers are honest," he says.
The members of the Bangladeshi community in New York are proud of
this son of the soil.
"There are good and honest people in every community. But with his
deeds Osman has made us all Bangladeshis very proud," neighbour
Shafiq Alam said.
Mr Chowdhury came to the US in 1992 to work as a taxi driver in New
York.
Distraught
Back home in Bangladesh he used to work as a contractor. He is
still unmarried, but lost his parents recently and has to provide
for his family which includes many sisters.
He does not even own a cab, but rents it for 12 hour shifts.
The job is so stressful that it has affected his health. He suffers
from high blood pressure, and kidney problems.
"But I have always maintained that no matter what the problems we
face in life, we should not resort to dishonesty," he said.
And in what has been a good month for South Asian taxi drivers in
New York, a taxi driver of Indian origin returned a wallet
containing $5,950 to a passenger.
"If money doesn't belong to me, I don't keep it," said Vinod Mago,
55, an Indian immigrant.
"I know God is watching everybody, every second." Mr Mago had just
started his shift when his taxi controller called to say a
distraught man was missing his wallet.
He found the wallet in the back seat and raced to the airport in
time to return it to the owner, who gave him and the taxi
coordinator $100 each in gratitude.
my friend asking how to get green card ah? work as cabbie
