An autorickshaw in Kerala with Paulo Coelho's name painted on it.
Remember Paulo Coelho's earth-shattering novel The Alchemist? The touching story about one's self-discovery is a good enough reason to remember the book. But now we have something more to add to the book's charm. This Sunday, the Brazilian writer's tweet about an autorickshaw went viral. Reason? This auto rickshaw was seen on the roads of Kerala. On its rear, there is a name of Paulo Coelho's written in big bold English letters. The word ‘Alchemist' is painted just below his name in Malayalam. Mr Coelho acknowledged the gesture by writing, “Kerala, India (thank you very much for the photo).”
The tweet was posted on September 5, 2021. Within a day, it garnered 21.4k likes and over 1.7k retweets and still counting. Mr Coelho's tweet has received much love from bibliophiles, especially the ones residing in Kerala.
A user named Thomas Zachariah wrote, "For us, you're not from Brazil or abroad. You're from the banks of the Bharathappuzha river, and feel you as one of our favourite Malayalam novelists."
Another user, Pradeep Menon, replied to Mr Coelho's tweet, "You will be surprised to know the kind of following you have in this small part of the world called Kerala."
If this wasn't enough to show us the magnitude of love that the author receives from Kerala, a user by the name of Sunshu wrote, "Go to Kerala with a truckload of your books, try and unload it on your own, then give you will understand the knowledge."
Ajay Baskar mentioned a film by the name of the writer in his reply, "Hope you know that there is a Malayalam film named after you... Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho (2016)."
Readers from other parts of the country also appreciated Mr Coelho's novels. A Twitter user named Saina wrote, "India always sending you love in different ways. Your ideology and books have greatly transformed Indian minds."
Many appreciated the auto owner behind this heartwarming gesture. One user replied, "This tweet should reach the person who drives that auto. It would be a great shame if the person behind this is unaware that PC had noticed this and tweeted about it. Must mean a lot."
To our delight, the autorickshaw owner was found and told about Mr Coelho's appreciation post. A user, T A Ameerudheen, replied to the writer's tweet with a piece of news coverage of the rickshaw owner K A Pradeep.
We thank Mr Coelho for touching so many lives with his books.
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