Meet Gazi Jalaluddin, 65 year old yellow cab driver in Kolkata who had to stop his studies due to poverty, now runs 2 schools and an orphanage in his native Sundarbans. “I had to quit studies when I was seven years old. I had stood first in class two and was going to the next class. But my parents were unable to afford books; so I had to give up. That drove me to do something for the underprivileged,” Gazi says.

A farmer’s son, Gazi used to live in Thakurchak village, located in the Sundarbans, West Bengal. The family just had a quarter acre of land which wasn’t able to fulfill their daily needs. Looking for better prospects, the family moved to Kolkata. Before long, Gazi ended up begging on the streets of Kolkata. But his hard work made him a rickshaw puller at the age of 12-13. By 18 he leant to drive and became a taxi driver in 1977.

His main agenda was doing something for the unprivileged kids in his hometown, so he formed ‘Sundarban Driving Samiti’ where he gave driving lessons to young boys of Sundarbans. “I taught 10 boys in my first class for free and asked them to donate just Rs 5 every month once they started earning. I also asked each one of them to teach two more needy boys from the village. The chain still continues and today, there are 300 boys from the Sundarbans driving taxis and earning their living in Kolkata,” he says.

Along with this, Gazi also started requesting his passengers if they are interested in donating books, medicines or old clothes for the villagers. Many people helped Gazi to support the kids who had to leave their education just like Gazi.

Later in 1997, he was determined to open a school for kids with free education. “I asked lot of people in my village if they could donate some land to build a school, but no one agreed. A few even laughed at me,” says Gazi. After not getting help from the fellow villagers, Gazi started the school in one of the two rooms of his own house. He took a mike and announced the classes that were free for kids, but no one was interested in sending their kids.

“They were not ready to send their kids, especially girls to school. I explained to them how they have to run back to the doctor or a literate person to read even simplest things, like how to take medicines. Even urgent letters went unread until someone could be found to decipher them,” he says.

But in 1998, Gazi’s efforts started paying off. He started ‘Ismail Israfil Free Primary School’ (named after his two sons). The school has 22 students and 2 teachers. By 2012, he managed to build 12 classrooms, 2 washrooms and a mid-day meal with donations offered by his passengers and his savings.

He got helped from 2 of his passengers in buying a land, some took responsibility to pay to the teachers, while some helped with the mid day meal. In 2009, with all helping hands, he built his 2nd school ‘Sundarban Sikshayatan Mission’, in Purv Thakurchak, Sundarban. In 2016, he built ‘Sundarban Orphanage Mission’ to provide shelter to orphan kids who studies in his schools.

“I don’t know how much longer I will be able to keep it up through driving. My two sons are also driving and help in the endeavour. There are 425 students in total. Since its run as a non-governmental organization (Sunderban Orphanage and Social Welfare Trust) we do not have access to government funds. I have tried communicating with the local district administration about assistance but to no avail.”

“I want to expand the schools and target secondary and higher secondary education. I have faith in people and hope they come to our aid as poverty is still the root cause of unemployment and lack of education in the Sundarbans. Life is difficult for the people in the remote areas due to natural disasters. Education will go a long way in helping them achieve self-sufficiency,” he adds.

Gazi especially thanked Arun Kumar Dubey who donated land for his orphanage, Dipankar Ghosh, Ajeet Kumar Saha, Deepa Dutta, Barnali Pai and many others who helped him to create   the schools and the orphanage.

Gazi’s cab has his number (9735562504) displayed on the top with a message that reads, “This taxi’s total income is spent for the development of orphans mission, Sikkhyatan mission and IIPF school for the orphans. So kindly don’t give any traffic case against this taxi.”