Eight years after his wife’s death, yet he still saves a place for her every day: Bengaluru auto driver’s story is a quiet portrait of love and loss
For some people, love does not end with goodbye. It simply changes the way it is expressed. An elderly auto driver in Bengaluru has been quietly carrying on a daily ritual for his late wife, even eight years after her death. Every day, he cleans his auto, places flowers inside the vehicle, and keeps his wife’s photograph close to him. His story recently touched people online after an unexpected conversation with a passenger revealed the reason behind the flowers.
A photograph beside him, flowers every day
The emotional encounter was shared on Instagram by Sooraj S Kurup, who came across the elderly auto driver in Bengaluru. What caught his attention were the flowers neatly arranged at the front of the auto. Curious about the daily decoration, Sooraj asked the driver who the flowers were for. The driver responded with a smile and pointed towards a photograph of his wife. He explained that she had passed away eight years ago. Yet, despite all these years, he continues to buy flowers for her and keeps her photograph with him while driving. For the driver, it appears to be more than a decoration. It is a small daily ritual that allows him to keep the memory of his wife close.
‘If I sit at home, I’ll think too much”
During the conversation, the driver also spoke about his family. He has a son, a daughter, and six grandchildren. Sooraj then asked him why he continued driving an auto instead of staying at home with his family. His answer revealed another side of his story. The driver explained that staying at home would leave him with too much time to think. Instead, he chooses to drive his auto every day, meet people, and keep himself occupied. For him, the daily routine seems to offer a sense of purpose as well as a way to deal with the loneliness that came after losing his wife. He drives through the streets of Bengaluru, talks to passengers and continues with his day. But through it all, his wife’s photograph remains beside him.
A love that never really left
There was something deeply emotional about the simplicity of his actions. He is not making a grand statement about love. He is simply buying flowers, cleaning his auto, and keeping a photograph of the woman he loved close to him. Eight years have passed, but his routine has remained. The flowers have become a quiet reminder that grief does not always disappear with time. Sometimes, people learn to live alongside it while finding their own ways to remember someone they have lost. For this driver, perhaps those flowers are a way of saying that his wife is still a part of his everyday life.
The internet was moved by his story
After the video was shared online, viewers were left emotional by the elderly man’s simple gesture. Many people focused on the fact that he continues to buy and arrange flowers for his wife even years after her passing. Several described the gesture as a beautiful example of lasting love. Others said the story made them think about the kind of love they hope to experience in their own lives, a relationship in which someone remains remembered and cherished even after they are gone. One Instagram user even claimed that the driver lives near them and said they had seen him following the same routine every morning. According to the comment, he cleans his auto before decorating it with flowers. While that particular claim comes from a social media user and cannot independently establish the driver’s routine, it added another layer to the emotional response surrounding the video.
Sometimes, love lives in the little things
The driver’s story is not about a dramatic love story or a grand tribute. It is about something much quieter. A few flowers. A photograph. An auto that he continues to clean every morning. And a man who chooses to keep moving forward while carrying the memory of his wife with him. His decision to stay busy, talk to people, and continue working may be his way of navigating life after loss. And every time he places those flowers beside her photograph, he seems to remind himself that although she is no longer physically beside him, the place she holds in his life has not disappeared. Eight years may have passed, but for this Bengaluru auto driver, love still has a place in the front seat.
