This is a Soliloquy of a Driver, yes a common driver, of Bangalore, in his own words, but has been summarised for better audience. On one of the business trips within Bangalore, this driver from one of the branded and organized cab service firm has to expressly though laced with anguish and tinge of helplessness.
This incident has indeed gripped my attention and helped me empathize with the lives of a common driver. Many a times, given stickler within ourselves and exactitude that we demand of services from every sphere of society, including me, are mostly dismissive of the Driver's rationale, situations, etc., that disable them to service them to their potential with zest and zeal that some of them atleast are charged up.
Ofcourse, many of us also agree, which I used to harbour the grouse, that afterall they are indeed doing their services and are being paid up for whatever the quality of services that they are providing, again excluding the situations under which they would be performing their services.
Choice
They make the choice out of sheer necessity. Some of them, willing to exert themselves to own up a vehicle in due course and better theirs and their family lives....but....
Demand
Call center would play tantrums and havoc many a instances despite the electronic gadgetry in providing the requisite demand for them. So they need to be pally with CC execs and there seems to be some unholy nexus amongst select drivers and executives!!!
Passengers: ever demanding tribe, necessary partner to eke out their living irrespective of their business model( either a driver, or a co-owner or a owner of a cab thats attached with a firm)
Timings: virtually 24hrs; if one is stuck at airport; due to the economic slow down, they too get affected
Security: the usual shenanigans of the so called power oozing personalities make their life miserable by asking them to park at godforsaken places
System: they too "navigate" their way, despite none of their mistakes, with the system, local administration usual hapthas
Leadership: virtually non-existent and ever fearful of the wrath of the management, hardly can they muster the support of their vitals leave alone the fellow drivers on a sustained note for any genuine issues: insurance, training, safety, security, cab maintenance, cost effective solutions etc., For they could not organize themselves
External Rallying Points: are best avoided is what I was told: such as a political leader or an organization to represent their voice for their betterment or enforcing some of the contracts with their firms....
Public conveniences: imagine a person who is toiling hard or just hanging out for the next pickup call, weary out of the lack of proper sleep and proper hygiene( inevitable outcome), even to attend to nature calls, its a great challenge as there is no public conveniences on our mighty cities along the stretches and swathes of kilometers.
Public Places: invariably they are the underdogs of such public places to make use of the facilities: ex: showers/toilets at railway stations/airports.
Canteen Facilities: at airport, they are supposed to have a separate canteen along with other support service staff but the quality of food is best junked or to be consumed by the rodents et al but not by a living human being. So is the treatment that they get from the airport officials. Nor their grievances gets addressed as their firms dont want to be on the wrong side of the administration
Sensitivity: they are supposed to have regular interactions with public officials: such as commissioner, police higher ups, other administration: but none would be ever sympathetic leave alone empathetic to their genuine issues and concerns.
Fuel: drivers do know the exact spots and bunks where they get best bang for their hard earned bucks. ie those stations where the fuel is unadulterated and get the real right mileage. While they did fought out with the help of local TV channels for some time, its not a story that gets the TRPs. Hence its met a natural death.
Back to square one.
Many or all of those factors only fuel their shortchanging on the quality of services such as: not closing the windows; rash driving( in the rush to catch up with next customer call), not putting on ACs etc involuntarily...but then once this vicious cycle sets in they are victims of such spiralling loop which they seem to still grapple with and unable extricate themselves.
Indeed some of them have surrendered their driving rights with the cab offices and wish to go to the villages/their little patches of land to till and enjoy whatever they can reap...
But is there any glimmer of hope..sure..just their attitude and never dying spirit of grit & determination to see their loving kids bloom like any other cute lil child of the well off families...call it aspiration dynamics or the protective force of Life...they weather it out ....untiringly...perhaps with a little bit of patience and empathy from all of us...along with us they too can have better life
