Friday 2 August 2013

Troubling truck on highways? Offer liquor!

Wanderings in Jharkhand


"Can we approach that vehicle?" asked Selvan Dasaraj, Vice President, Mahindra Logistics, on a mid-April evening as we came out of a dhaba (roadside eatery) in Ranchi, Jharkhand, one of the most coal-enriched state in the eastern part of India and 110 km away from Jamshedpur or Tata Nagar.

Our earlier attempt to engage Rajvinder Singh, the dhaba owner, and a few truck drivers sipping extra-sugary tea in his spacious place did not bear fruit. Though the young Singh evinced interest to share inputs on the damaged truck hardly 200 metres near his business place in a casual mode, his attitude changed the moment we took out notepad and pencil. He must have mistaken us for some police investigating team. Bad luck. Hem instead, advised us to try our luck with trucks parked on the roadside.


Having finished the day's work, the Sun was gently climbing down on the western horizon.

I was anxious to open the account without any loss of time.

What account?

Well, it is something like this.

Three years and three books (10,000 KM on Indian Highways, Naked Banana! and An Affair With Indian Highways) later, I felt just writing about the plight of highway drivers alone won't do. It is time for action and as a corollary, set up KRK Foundation, registered Trust, with the focus on studying and improving the living standards of these hapless human beings and their families living in remote villages.

And, this was my maiden trip and inclement weather delayed my arrival in Ranchi by a day and thereby I had lost valuable time. Luckily, Mahindra Logistics CEO Pirojshaw Sarkari understood my zeal and decided to support the weeklong trip to Koderma, Hazaribagh and Giridih districts in northern Jharkhand because his company was equally passionate about the same cause.

Jharkhand, originally part of the state of Bihar, supplies the maximum number of highway truck drivers. Once upon a time, the states of Punjab and Haryana coveted this title. Having unlocked their land value, Punjabi and Haryanvi truck drivers have decided to hang up their boots, thus creating a huge vacuum in the supply chain of truck driving.

With no industrial development, Jharkhand youngsters were forced to look out for a living and they chose 'drivery' - as is commonly known among drivers' community. Why? Primarily, it is felt that it does not need any special skills and lack of education is no bar. Right or wrong is debatable.

"Be careful. Let's cross the road," said the fortyish Selvan, whom I had met few weeks ago in his Delhi office for the first time after Sarkari indicated that he would be my co-traveler in the maiden Jharkhand trip. Such a senior officer ready to hotfoot with me in truck drivers’ company? I was a bit skeptical which blew away quickly.

Actually, I had mistaken him for "Sylvan" and for Goan. The only brief I had about him was that he has also spent a lot of time with the drivers' community across India during his tenure with various logistics companies.

This misconception evaporated once I came face to face with him. Though he was born and brought up in Hyderabad, his roots were Tamil - like mine. Secondly, he actually did his Bachelors’ degree in mass communication - read journalism - but strangely moved away from that discipline. What more can I ask for? We hit it off well right from the word, 'go'. Sel, as he is famously nicknamed, would say, “like Rum and Coke’!

After that maiden meeting three weeks ago in Delhi, now I was crossing National Highway 23 in Jharkhand along with him for a possible interaction with a highway driver on the other side.

Will that guy open his mouth? He may. He may not. Let's try.

We noticed two guys tinkering with some wiring inside the Leyland 3611 truck, parked on the roadside. The vehicle looked new and whatever its content was tarpaulin-covered.

On noticing our presence - Selvan, myself and driver Bipin Singh with his trademark baseball cap, one of the elderly occupants jumped out with a curious look on his face.

"Where are you going?" Selvan began the conversation.

"Raipur".

"Are you the driver?"

"No, no. He is there," pointed the tall man to a lean, wiry framed young guy at the steering wheel.

We 'hello'ed him.



Flashing a beaming smile, he jumped out.

That was first exposure to Anil Yadav, in his early twenties.

Hailing from Bagadu basti in Koderma district, Anil took to driving under the tutelage of his uncle.

"Papa kept insisting that I must take up electric wiring and not truck driving because according to him, this is 'bekaar' (good for nothing). But I have no patience for learning electric job," Anil reveals his past without any hint of hesitation and as if we know each other for long.

An outgoing personality. A charmer too, to the boot.

Married recently, he is on his way to Raipur carrying carbon.

Does he miss his wife?

"What are you asking, saab?," he giggles.

Does she not want him to be home every day and night?

"Yeh poochne ki baat hai?... (Is it something to be asked?). Yes, she wants me home daily," adds he.

We perhaps unnecessarily touched an emotional issue and he looks around to gather his spirits before the resumption of his outpourings.

Newly married or otherwise. The physical intimacy between spouses in the initial days automatically leads to emotional understanding over the long run of the journey called ‘life’. Unlike the rest of us, who return home every evening from workplace to eat and sleep with our respective spouses to consummate and avail of conjugal bliss, truck drivers do not enjoy that privilege. In a way, they consciously decided to stay away from their families for longer duration out of necessity: to eke out a living for the entire family. They suffer so that the entire parivar (family) is able to lead some ‘life’ in remote villages.

"Do you drink?" I ask the pencil-thin Anil.

He began to laugh.

We could not fathom.

"Saab, more than me, this truck demands drinks!"

What?

"Yeh sach hai (Yes, it is true). Whenever this truck gives trouble, I offer Rs.100 worth liquor to it. Yes, am not joking," tells Anil as Selvan and myself stand transfixed on hearing this explosive revelation.

Daaru (liquor)-demanding truck?

"Any trouble with the vehicle en route is sorted out quickly soon after I offer liquor to it ... Sometimes, I tell (this truck), 'arre bhai, mera manjil tak powancha do’ '(Help me reach my destination) and I will give you drinks' and saab, troubles vanish in no time," Anil elaborates.

Now that the vehicle is giving trouble and he is tinkering with wiring inside the cabin, is he readying for the liquor ceremony?

Of course, pat comes the reply.

The class 8 Jharkhand driver will halt on the highway near some liquor vend and buy Rs.100 worth liquor.

For the vehicle or for himself?

He laughs away at our track of questioning.

Drunken driving on highways is very common. It is some excuse to buy liquor for his own consumption. Indian highways are dotted with liquor vends, despite legal restrictions on setting up such joints on the highways. (Ref: Tipsy on Tarmac, An Affair With Indian Highways, pp. 39-50, 2013)

Who takes care of his parents if they fall sick while he is on his rounds away from home?

Bagadu villagers, consisting od 120 homes, support each other in times of crisis.

"I wish to be there whenever anyone is sick. But if I go back home, who is there to earn money to support family?" he asks rhetorically.

What about his children's education?

It is his/her fate. What can I do?, asks he innocently.

Does his income sufficient enough to support his family?

Anil, driving for his cousin, earns Rs.4,000 out of every trip and if he manages two trips per month, his take home pay doubles. His family has some arable lands where paddy and vegetables are grown – both for captive consumption and for the local market.

Does he enjoy drivery?

"In Jharkhand, people like us (uneducated) have two options: you join the sena (army) or become a truck driver. Both these professions need no intelligence, but require hard physical work," responds he.

Selvan looks quizzically at me over the unusual linkage between intelligence  and army/drivery career.

By now, the sun is nowhere to be seen. Darkness has set in. Our faces get lit up thanks to the powerful beams of passing vehicles on the highway.

We exchange mobile numbers and say 'goodbye'.

Day one on this weeklong Jharkhand visit has commenced on a beautiful note. Anil's liquor offering practice to pacify troubling truck remains an unforgettable story to be shared with anyone and everyone.

What a weird and quirky prescription to cajole a troubling partner!


ALSO READ:

http://driversduniya.blogspot.in/2013/08/baara-anna-jhoot-chaar-anna-sach.html

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