In this era of instant coffee and instant noodles, people have lost patience to wait and watch the unfolding of wonderful nature. Be it the metamorphosis of a larva into a beautiful butterfly or the transformation of a tiny seed into a huge tree, it requires the vital factor called time. So also the human behavior, especially so if the behavioral pattern has taken a crooked tilt over a period because of years of suppression by the society that they live in. Leave alone the impact. Even measurable change would be visible over a considerable period. And in the context of commercial truck drivers of highways, it fits very aptly.
Recently I spent three months in the company of drivers from a mining area to understand them and their attitude towards work, society and ethical practices. A community, engrossed in an aggressive attitude towards their profession, people and the mechanical beasts that they drive. That it is not going to be a child’s play was evident from the word ‘go’.
Yes, I am talking about the commercial truck drivers, and that too drivers of tipper trucks confined to the mining area. To add a proof to my conviction was the scene of zooming tipper trucks on the roads. The rattling noise of these rolling giants could be heard from the guest house at a distance of at least half a kilometer from the main road. Indeed, a sure shot truck race winner! One cannot miss to notice the hillock sized speed breakers on the roads. Such is the might of these tippers and their mahavuts that an ordinary speed breaker will look like a mole hill for them.
A journey to the mines head will reveal the real hardships and the untold sufferings. In fact, there are no roads made for the trucks, rather the trucks have carved out the roads. Full of dust and ridden with deep pits and scattered boulders. A mad rush to reach the top and get the load makes these drivers blind to any safety rules. It would be a study worth undertaking to examine the ill-effects of full body vibrations on these rugged fellows. Most of them are in their prime of youth and hence probably are sustaining the jolts. But how long? Anyway, who cares about the future? Neither the driver nor the authorities.
Beneath all the rough and tough certainly lies a tender heart, tenderness of which is buried deep down. Like an expert diver you have to deep dive into the psyche of these drivers to get a hint of the human face. Typical to this driving community is their shelled nature. You want a change, you have to make the right connect with them. It certainly does not mean the ‘goody-goody’ artificial behavior of the so-called sophisticated city breed. Show your true concern, identify and acknowledge his daily societal hurdles which are taken for granted as fate accomplice. Attending to nature’s call under the sky or being addressed in singular from Security to Saabs is accepted phenomena. He has put his self-respect to slumber. Survival has become his animal instinct. An instinct he has developed for the sake of a good future for his offspring. He is sensitive to the fact that his hardships of the profession should end with him. No way he would allow his next gen to get into this line.
At the mines hub, we spent more than a month just to establish that intimate inner connects with this hapless tribe who are apparently a beast outwardly but caring and sensitive deep beneath. Be it a driver of a private truck operator or working for a company, the attitude of our brothers is the same. Trips made and money collected is what counts. Today is reality. Cash in hand is money. Why bother for tomorrow? Make merry today.
Coming for work like a robot with the only intention of making trips (money) to the mines. A sense of discipline and a feeling of belongingness has to be inculcated for the inclusive growth of the individual, the organization and the society that one lives in. A sugar-coated pill has to be administered to gain the desired result. Any such treatment has to have the willingness and the trust of the patient. That is when we hit upon the idea of daily communication meet in the mornings. Let us meet you and your colleagues everyday was our plea to them. We have moved with them like long-lost cousins. Guffawed at their jokes, met their families, discussed their village problems and were present in their social gatherings, both happy and sad. And thus, we were able to break the ice. We were careful to drive home the point that his mind and body belongs to him and only he has to take care of it. For his own sake and for the sake of his family. “Imagine the fate of your family without you” was a reality hit!
Surprisingly, or may be not that surprising is the fact that these drivers, despite their aloofness and rugged behavior, are sensitive to the needs of their family or more specifically towards their wards. It is because unlike their highway brethren they go back to their nests every day and hence a better bonding with the family.
Our great concern was their robotic way of working. Well, I am not talking about the robotic efficiency but the lack of sensitiveness towards their profession and the surroundings. We hit upon an age-old therapy of laughter. A virtue gifted only to human beings, long forgotten by these individuals. Despite your sorrows try and laugh as a healing therapy. Everyone has sorrows, keep them aside for those few minutes early in the morning and let us compete with each other in laughing. A great stress buster. They started easing out. We were laughing together as a part of the exercise for the mind, soul and body.
Gradually, we scripted a few commandments for these soldiers of roads. Take the oath every day, day after day. Allowing the words to sink in and make sense for their own safety. Like the refresher courses being conducted in the aviation industry year after year, every year, irrespective of the number of years you have put in. In the long run, safety becomes your second nature. There were resistive voices too saying we have come here to drive and not to waste time. You have to give an ear to objections too and take them into your stride by reasoning. The opposition is better than aloofness. A negative feeling is still a feeling.
Change is not something that is visible with the stroke of a brush like they show in the commercials of paint companies. Patience and perseverance have to be your permanent tools to pat the pertinent cord in him. A mission which will unfold its positive side but only in the long run.
By Raghuram Sharma