He asked himself, Am I not meant to do something better than drive a taxi?

He did the job in two stints, in the 1990s and again in the 2010s, in addition to working as a cashier at McDonald’s and managing a grocery store.

His three children attended college in the United States and now have corporate or creative professions in New York City. In 2017, thanks to their financial support, Mr. Khan was able to retire. He lives with Rizia Khan, his wife since 1982, in New Hyde Park on Long Island.

Of all the occasions when Mr. Khan has spoken in America about his past, one stands out.

In September 2021, he found himself at an improbable scene: a packed hip-hop show at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom. At one point, the concert organizers summoned him backstage.

Shortly thereafter, the headliner, a Bangladeshi American rapper named Anik Khan, paused between songs. He announced a special guest: someone who had grown up in a village, recited poetry in front of thousands, started a successful business, enjoyed the services of a personal driver — and then left it all behind to become a driver for other people while living in a one-bedroom apartment with six people in Queens.

“If it’s OK,” Anik said, “I’d love to bring out my father to do one of his poems.”

To the sound of a blaring klaxon and shrieks from the crowd, Mr. Khan emerged. Anik was sporting cornrows and an unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt; his father wore pointed slippers, a white kurta and a green shawl with golden trim. Turning toward the hip-hop fans, Golam folded his hands in the traditional South Asian sign of respect.

He did not, however, recite his poem.

“I was a freedom fighter in the War of Liberation,” he said.

Many in the crowd could not have known what war, exactly, he was referring to, but they cheered in response.

Mr. Khan continued: “In 1971 …”

Anik reappeared. He whispered something into his father’s ear and made a straight-ahead gesture with his arm before backing away.