A Delhi woman’s ride with Rapido turned into an unexpectedly “wholesome experience” when she met a female captain who was also a chef. Smriti Sahu, in a LinkedIn post, revealed that after an evening of shopping with a colleague, she booked a Rapido ride and was surprised to see a female driver, Pooja Tripathi, accept her request.

She had also booked an Uber ride simultaneously, but cancelled it, choosing instead to ride with the Rapido captain on her “Kali (black) Activa.”

“It was the best decision ever because she was absolutely entertaining. Such a jolly person!” Ms Sahu wrote. What truly touched her was Ms Tripathi’s inspiring life story.

The Rapido captain, apart from ferrying passengers, is also a chef by profession. She joined the ride-hailing platform simply because she enjoys riding her scooter.

Ms Sahu recalled how Ms Tripathi frequently checked in on her comfort with questions like, “Ma’am, zyada tez toh nahi chala rahi na?” (Am I riding too fast?) and “Aap aaram se toh baithe ho na?” (Are you seated comfortably?).

“She wasn’t just talking for the sake of it, I could tell she had been through some tough times simply by the way she appreciated every little happy moment in her life,” Ms Sahu said, adding that the 35-minute ride flew by in an instant.

She also shared Ms Tripathi’s details in a screenshot which showed her in a chef uniform. “Below are her details, in case Rapido decides to reward her in any way,” Ms Sahu wrote.

The post soon went viral.

A user commented, “This is just so cool. Good vibes only.”

Another wrote, “Wow, such a superb and beautiful story.”

“As someone who is scared to book rides on uber or ola anymore, this makes me so much happier,” a comment read.

Someone said, “Such a wholesome moment!”

Last month, Rapido co-founder Pavan Guntupalli announced that the company would launch its women-only bike taxi service called ‘Bike Pink’ in Karnataka. It would create 25,000 jobs for women. The service was first introduced in Chennai in September 2024. They also plan to expand ‘Bike Pink’ to Kolkata.