Tornagallu Diary - 4

Ramesh Kumar

Yellapantula Raghuram Sharma dreamt of becoming a doctor so that he can treat and restore good health of his potential patient clients. That was the reason behind his selection of Chemistry Botany Zoology for his bachelor's degree at Jamshedpur Cooperative College in the erstwhile Bihar, now in Jharkhand. Alas, family financial condition did not permit the luxury of chasing his dream career. Undeterred he sat for another degree: this time in Commerce.

Coming out successfully with double degrees, he landed up  selling financial products for a short while in Patna before fate threw him into the sky, literally: as cabin crew in the then monopolistic national air carrier viz., the Indian Airlines.

For 34 years, this charming, multi-linguist sweet talker serviced thousands of  frequenting IA passengers: the high and mighty as well as the low and the marginalized. What is of importance was that he had spent a decade towards the last phase of his illustrious career grooming the  new recruits joining the Air India-Indian Airlines into the art and science of "customer service". Simply put, this Jamshedpur-born Telugu brahmin fine-tuned his teaching/coaching skills then.

Sharmaji, as he is known among colleagues, would not have bargained for what transpired subsequently. In a way, his dream to become a "doctor" became a reality. Though not as a qualified MBBS degree holder treating patient-clients at hospitals and or private clinics, Sharmaji turned into a "behavioral doctor"!

His so-called patients today are: long haul truck drivers. His consultancy or operations are conducted at unusual places: truck driver-frequenting highway dhabas, portside CFS premises, transport nagars, fleet owning transport company premises, mining pits and what not.

TransportMitra got him on board soon after it set sailing in early 2015 to head, what else, "training". Must admit, I had my doubts as to how a veteran cabin crew trainer with the country's own air  carrier where he dealt with polished and educated target group grooming them to be the best in their work will handle the underprivileged, less educated and a difficult-to-decipher long haul truck drivers.

Sharmaji, thankfully, proved me wrong totally. He took to coaching/counselling long haul truck drivers with a deep inferiority complex like duck taking to water. His repertoire consists of: wit  and wisdom. Ready to become a child to these unruly long haul truck driver kids and win their confidence and trust in the language of their choice: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil. In Hindi, he was adept at Bhojpuri even. Having born and brought up in the cow belt of Republic of India, his diction and choice of words was impeccable and unmatchable. A quick linguistic comfort or bridge got erected between the teacher and the taught.

This five feet four inches maestro dug deep  into the archives of TransportMitra to transform himself into an hands on expert in understanding the psyche of his subjects. Just not that alone. He traveled length and breadth of our country in the course of coaching his wards on how to become "smart".

"Arre yaaron, hamare phones bhi  smart ho chuke hain. Aap kyun nahi?" is one of his opening gambit in saral Hindi. His quiver is full of gyan and vigor. Life has not changed much for this Hyderabad-based  "behavioral doctor". In his earlier avatar with the national air carrier, he was always away from home most of the time. Like a nomad. Now again, the same situation: like a nomad, he is always on the move to remain connected with his new found love: the long haul truck drivers. .

What does he teach/coach? Wait for the next dispatch.