How the Internet ruined this viral story about an Uber's driver's good deed
Nothing escapes the scrutiny of the Internet.
On July 2, Amazon India manager Shrikant Singh wrote a Facebook post about his inspiring conversation with an Uber driver during a late night trip in Bengaluru. The driver Anand turned out to be an entrepreneur, who owned a fleet of 50 cars registered with Uber. The story of why he was driving the cab hit a chord with many people, and the post went viral.
Anand told Singh that he was an engineer, who had shifted back to India after working in the US. He said that had a fleet of 50 cars registered with Uber and even owned a couple of strawberry farms. He then revealed the reason why he chose to drive that day.
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"Oh this car met with an accident a few days back and my Uber driver died," Anand told Singh. "His family is too proud to take money, so I figured the only way I can help is to drive the car on his behalf and let the income from Uber keep flowing. And I feel happy doing this."
Since then, post has been shared nearly 10,000 times and has got over 60,000 likes.
However, that wasn't the end of the story. Several users pointed out that the driver had taken a considerable longer route between the pickup location and the drop point, when there was an option to take a shorter one. Others argued that if the cab had been in an accident, it wouldn't still be plying on the road.
In turn, Singh refused to divulge the reason behind the distance covered during the trip. "A lot has been discussed about the logic of the trip length," he wrote on Facebook. "All I can say is that there was a reason behind that and given the virality of this post, I would rather keep quiet and let everyone speculate."
Others vouched for Anand's story.
Finally, Singh put the rumours to rest. "I can only say this.. I have been in Bangalore for 7 years.. I know the roads.. And I know the route I took.," he wrote on Facebook. "And yet I say this once again, 'it's a good story.. It's a true story.. And Its a story of an amazing person'. I can't force people to change their bias but I can always try."
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Topics Uber
Sonam Joshi was Mashable's principal correspondent in India. She has previously worked for The Times of India group and Time Out Delhi, and written for The Caravan, Mint Lounge and Yahoo Originals.
