The Ambassador has metal containers on its roof, inlaid with soil, white sand and stone chips

The cab has been nicknamed as the Green Chariot. PHOTOS: The Better India

Taxis have grabbed headlines in recent times, globally. The world is yet to recover from the news of losing Nobel laureate and Princeton University mathematician John F Nash Jr. and wife Alicia  – inspiration behind the film A Beautiful Mind – in a New Jersey car crash on Saturday. Soaring summer temperatures in the Indian subcontinent and resultant heat strokes are forcing cabbies to stay off roads in the afternoons. Then, there’s the heartwarming story of Dhananjay Chakraborty from Kolkata, whose taxi is green in every sense. Over the fare you pay, Chakraborty only demands this ‘extra’ – that you plant a sapling and care for it. He literally leads the way – with a roof garden atop his car, eight potted plants in the trunk, and leaflets and seeds that he distributes among passengers. And in the sweltering Indian summer, his taxi runs without air conditioning. It’s ‘cool’ like that.

Read his story here, more photos here.