Paulo Coelho stumbles upon autorickshaw in Kerala named after his book 'The Alchemist', tweets pic

Paulo Coelho's widely translated international bestseller novel 'The Alchemist', which was first published in 1988, has a Kerala connect which the author has just found out. Recently, the renowned author stumbled upon a picture that showed-off an autorickshaw in Kerala with 'The Alchemist' connect, which has now gone viral.

In the picture, the autorickshaw flashes the author's name in big, bold English letters, with the book 'The Alchemist', which is about self-discovery', written in Malayalam right below. The 74-year-old writer, humbled by the gesture, shared the image with his over 15.4 million followers on Twitter, thanking the man for his kindness.

"Kerala, India (thank you very much for the photo)," the Brazilian writer scribbled on the microblogging site.



But who is this man riding an autorickshaw with a spot dedicated to Coelho? According to PTI report, the three-wheeler in Kerala is owned by Pradeep, who is a big fan of the author who has scripted several best sellers such as 'Brida' (1990), 'The Valkyries' (1992), 'Maktub' (1994) and more. Thrilled by receiving a shoutout from his idol himself, Pradeep told media that it's a blessing for reading his book.

"This is a gift for reading the Alchemist...a blessing", PTI quoted Pradeep as saying.

The autorickshaw driver, who is now an Internet sensation thanks to Coelho's tweet, is an avid reader of the author and has also read his other works such as 'The Eleven Minutes' (2003), 'Veronika Decides to Die' (1998), 'The Pilgrimage' (1987) and more.

"I have read his several books. There will be at least one thing in his each book which can be followed in our life", said the 55-year old auto driver who came to know about the Brazilian writer's tweet through a friend.

Just like Pradeep, netizens in India are thrilled and completely in awe of Coelho's tweet mention and appreciation. They want him to visit Kerala after the pandemic and see the beautiful place in reality.

While another user took great pride in the literacy rate of Kerala, saying that "Kerala is the most literate state in India, with a 96.2% literacy rate, according to a report based on a National Statistical Office survey."