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ReachoutHyderabad.com
"Newsmakers from Hyderabad"

Mr. Biju Mathew

An Hyderabadi who brought New York to a halt

Biju Mathew

Hyderabad: Mrs. Paul Mathews who stays at Barkatpura has been longing to see her son who is settled in America and one day ,she goes to New York and after alighting from the taxi over there,the Pakistani cab driver who had driven her to her sons house refuses to take any money for the fare and what's more he even touches her feet saying that he has indeed been very lucky to touch the feet of the mother of Biju Mathews.Who is this person who commands so much of respect in a foreign place like New York

.Well this 36 year's old is a Hyderabadi who has spearheaded a one of its kind revolution to unite the Multi-ethnic immigrant Taxi drivers of New York.He has been mobilizing the immigrant Yellow-cab driver community through the New York Taxi Workers Alliance(NYTWA).And it was Biju and his 25 member organizing committee of the NYTWA that organized the first -ever-of-its-kind Taxi strike in New York last year that brought him onto the front page of all the American News Papers .The strike was a collective action that turned out to be a turning point in immigrant politics in America.

Well, at a time when the Hyderabadi youngsters of today are rushing for the dollar dreams in USA,this green card holder has had the courage to write himself a life script that rejects the comforts of a Stereotype. Infact , Biju Mathews is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at Raider University and as an academician he could have lived in one of the city's posh white-collar localities ,published research papers to get ahead in professional race and lead a model immigrant life. Instead, he lives in a Latino and Black,down Market neighbourhood north of Harlem and writes fiery articles for left-wing magazines brought out by immigrant Asians and spends all his times mobilizing the mostly immigrant Yellow-cab driver community against the titans of the taxi trade.

We at Reach-out salute the leadership and concern of this Hyderabadi and at a time when our NRH( Non Resident Hyderabadis) swing between 50k to 100k , who the hell has got the time or the inclination to even look at others in the Dollar driven Big Apple. Well the cab meters in New York dont tick for Biju Mathews. Hello, NRH's are u all listening?