A Tehran cab with an exotic interior

A cabbie in Tehran is using dolls and stuffed toys to give a different look to the interior of his taxi. Passengers getting into his cab are usually surprised at the sight of the toys dangling from the roof and the rearview mirror or placed on the dashboard and by the windscreen.

The following is the translation of an excerpt of the comments of the taxi driver filed by SMT, a daily, on August 23:

Since childhood, I have been fond of animals. Actually I wished to become a vet. It was because of my love for animals that I developed an interest in toy animals. At first, I had a few toys in my cab but the number went up at the request of my passengers. In fact, the positive reaction from some of the passengers inspired me to have more in my taxi.

My passengers write down their ideas in a passenger book I keep in my taxi; I do value their opinions and try to meet their requests. Once a woman wrote, “I was on the verge of a divorce, getting in your taxi took me back to my childhood years. That prompted me to abandon the idea of divorcing my husband.”

A few years ago I opened a Facebook account. At first, I did not plan to introduce my taxi on the Internet, but some people told me that they had seen photos of my cab posted online in the name of others. So I decided to have a Facebook page.

Although I am not a famous person, the number of likes I get on my Facebook page at times equals those of celebrities. Through social networking sites, I have even made friends with Iranians abroad. When they visit Tehran, they want me to drive them around.