The tiny-tots in Pune are a privileged lot. In which other city would you find the rickshaw-wala playing the role of a fond and caring kaka. Who takes care of the school-goer almost like a surrogate parent. Suhas Kashinath Pawar and his brother Ramesh have been doing the rounds of the Abhinav Vidyalaya branches on Paud Road and Karve Road for the last 20 years, as much for the love of it as for the fixed income they derive from it. But it is by no means a cushy job, it demands patience and concern, which fortunately the two possess in abundance.

Their day starts at 6 a.m., when they cart the first batch of sleepy kids to their classrooms and ends at 7.30 p.m. Mini-KG, Junior and Senior-KG, play-groups, scholarship classes, computer classes or then the regular classes and even the creche - the kids are dropped and picked up on the assigned time without fail. A minimum of nine trips a day are made, which require four litres of petrol.

``It is the trust of the parents which is important,'' says Pawar, who takes at least 10 children at one time. ``If I am ill or there is an emergency like a rickshaw-bandh, I call up the parent and explain. The parents also have our telephone number and I have not faced one irate parent to date.'' In case of a machine break-down, the Pawars hire another autorickshaw to make sure the schedule is not interrupted. Their autos are also buffered with a grill on both sides for safety.

When school admissions are taking place, the Pawars make contact and contracts with the parents. And then there are the regular students, who go into a higher class. Says Ramesh Pawar, ``the school authorities have our names on the board against every child we take and for the really young toddlers, we are to pick up the child from the classroom itself.'' The most interesting feature of this interaction is the manner in which the relationship is forged. ``The school authorities teach the children to call us kaka and we are also told not to use crude language or speak loudly and to discourage the children from bad habits,'' say the Pawars. ``This job has given us tremendous social satisfaction. Not only the responsibility of the children but the help of parents has benefitted me,'' says Suhas Pawar, who was able to raise loans for his home and a Xerox shop with the help of parents who were bank employees. ``In times of tension and stress the parents help out, sometimes giving the full year's payment inadvance,'' he adds.

On festive holidays, weddings, birthdays or the munj ceremony, the rickshaw-wallah kaka is certain to be among the list of invitees, and gifts are regular feature, in the shape of shirts, trousers or packets of sweets. In their turn, the Pawars also carry chocolates with them, and treat the children to vada-pav or soft-drinks occasionally. ``We tell them not to eat vada-pav as it is fried, but they don't listen,'' they laugh.

The years have rolled by and children have come and gone. The rickshaw-wallah kaka may not remember the faces but the children certainly do. ``Once I was at a signal and one college-girl on a two-wheeler came and looked at me. I did not recognise her, but she smiled and said ``How are you, have you forgotten?'' Today, the children of some previous students also come in my rickshaw,'' says Suhas Pawar, smiling nostalgically.

On the other hand, concerned mothers have no fear either. Amita Bhide, whose children Aniruddh and Ketaki go to school in the Pawars' autos from Kothrud, is happy with their services and smiles benignly when Ramesh kaka scolds her son for giving him so much trouble. She knows her children are in safe hands!