Choti si asha!

You’ve no reason to know Hari Om. He is one among the million truck drivers who satisfy our desire to fulfil our needs such as food, shelter, medicine and last but not least the urge for personal mobility. I mean cars.

In the run-up to the festive season that began with Navrati, auto OEMs are burning the proverbial midnight oil to push as many personal mobility vehicles to the dealer points for Diwali-eve sales damakha.

The mid-thirties and father of two kids from Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, Hari Om, working for one of the leading car carriers, parked his 18.75 meter-long vehicle outside the dealer showroom in Rudrapur, Uttrakhand, on a Saturday morning hoping his task of unloading would be complete before sunset and he would push off.

Instead, he was told to wait for Monday evening unloading (48 hours away) much to his discomfiture. Did he have any options? Nope.

To pass the time, he dialled me via WhatsApp video on a Sunday morning. We spoke for the next 15 minutes about various issues under the sun. I noticed his unshaven, uncombed, and tired look.

“Why don’t you freshen up with a clean shave and bath?”

He smiled. “Kya zaroorat hai?” was the unsaid message.

I felt that a visit to the nearby hair-cutting salon and bath would pep him up. I offered to “donate” the salon visit cost. He refused to accept money from me. Okay.

Chalo, call me after your salon visit! I told him. Achche dikne mein bura kya hai?

The call did not come through.

A week later, the following message flashed on my handset.

“Mein Manesar paunch gaya. Aap kidar hai?”

That was again a Saturday. I was at home and asked him: kya baat hai?

No response.

On Monday, I reached the Manesar yard and saw the same message from Hari Om.

He was in the dining-cum-training hall waiting for his lunch along with other drivers.

He waved at me as I entered and we shook hands.

Yes, he looked different. No facial hair. Clean-shaven.

Needless to say, my choti se asha was fulfilled.

Appearance matters a lot. Unfortunately, truck drivers don’t subscribe to that theory. Later, they crib that nobody — right from the security guard at the factory gate to the logistics professionals — treats them well. They disrespect them.

My prescription for this malady: dress up and see the difference. The world will treat you differently. Right from the poorly paid security guard compared to (long-haul) truck drivers who make nothing less than Rs.50,000/- a month by hook or crook.

Well, Hari Om was not the only driver I “brainwashed.” Way back in 2012, on a Kolkata road trip, a similar incident happened. In the gap of two hours, one of the drivers servicing Mahindra Logistics plants himself in front of me, “aap mujhe pechana nahi?”

Honestly, I could not.

He revealed that he heard my “Achche Dikne Mein Bura Kya Hai?” spiel earlier in the day when he was present and dashed to the nearest salon to get a hair cut-cum-shaving. No wonder, I could not recognize his new look. But he got the message. Perhaps he felt there is meaning in what I said.

The world judges everyone by their appearance. How you dress, for starters, is a game-changer. Be he a truck driver or a CEO.

Truck drivers are brand ambassadors for fleet owners. Why don’t they get better mileage by ensuring their saratis are better dressed at least in khaki uniforms?

The only request to motormaliks: buy a better fabric, not the coarse cheaper material. You won’t wear it. Your drivers won’t. Change your mindset, Mr Motormalik!