Image: American envoy rides a cycle rickshaw

United States Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer took everyone by surprise in Patna on Friday when he hopped on the rider's seat of a cycle rickshaw while on a visit to a local foundation.

Roemer rode a cycle rickshaw during his visit to meet Irfan Alam, the director of SammaaN Foundation, which works for a better standard of life for cycle rickshaw drivers.

"I rode a rickshaw to know more about the experiences of a rickshaw driver. It was an amazing experience," a smiling Roemer told journalists. His wife Sally, who had accompanied him for the visit, was his passenger.

Hundreds of people, including dozens of cycle rickshaw drivers, watched him as he tried his hand at being one of them.

Alam has been invited to attend the 'Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship' by United States President Barack Obama in Washington, DC in April this year. 

When Alam started his organisation in 2007, only 100 cycle rickshaws were registered with the foundation. Today, over three lakh rickshaw riders from across the country are registered with the SammaaN Foundation.