Meet Kochi autorickshaw driver who got Paulo Coelho's attention

Kochi (Kerala) [India], September 8 : Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho shared a picture of an auto-rickshaw on his social media on September 5. The back of the vehicle has the name the writer 'Paulo Coelho' and below that 'The Alchemist' written in Malayalam.
The post went viral on social media. The owner of the auto-rickshaw, Pradeep KA who hails from Kochi's Cherai named his vehicle as he admired the novelist and his book.

"This is something I never expected and felt like a miracle. That was the happiest day in my life when someone shared the news with me. I read 'Alchemist' 11 years ago and this is the fourth auto-rickshaw I named after the novel. It seemed to be the most appropriate name. After this novel, I have read all the other novels of Paulo Coelho," said Pradeep, the owner of the auto-rickshaw.

I have read books of Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, DH Lawrence, Gabriel Garcia Marques, Osho, etc. in Malayalam translations. Also, I have read books of Malayalam writers like VKN, MT Vasudevan Nair, Anand, Madhavikutty, Anita Nair, and Perumbadavam. I read books for knowledge and take them as my teachers. My wish is that I meet Paulo Coelho when he visits India," he added.
The 74-year-old novelist is famous for the Best-selling novel 'The Alchemist', which has been sold for more than 150 million copies worldwide. 'Eleven Minutes', 'The Pilgrimage' and 'Veronica Decides to Die' are a few of his works.