On the road to Sawai Madhopur-4
The pencil-thin Navisher Khan (extreme right) stood on the verandah of his brand new, unpainted Pradhan Mantri Awaas ghar yojana makhan in Khatupura, Sawai Madhopur.
His beautiful smile stood out as we alighted from the Kia we had driven from Gurugram, National Capital Region, the previous day. We had covered 350 kilometres with multiple halts en route, including one meeting Khaitan Logistics’ Sharmaji, who was manning at least a thousand drivers from his 4 x 5 feet cubicle on the third floor of Jaipur’s Madrampur area headquarters.
Alisaab, SWIFT Roadlink’s driver Rizwan Khan’s abba jaan, warmly greeted us — the four-member crew — on our maiden Parivar Connect programme for the company (not mine!). His henna-ed beard and hair were visible from a distance, a sign of his readiness to welcome us into his home.
The first thing that struck me was the wall tiling of his two washrooms. Jazzed up! Shining designer ceramic.
Out came driver Rizwan, greeting Mukesh Prajapati (extreme left, capped), whose presence at the company’s Jamalpur, Gurugram, parking yard cannot be missed. He knew less of HR head Santosh Srivastava (handing over the gift box to the driver Rizwan), who’s an occasional visitor to the yard. I am a non-persona because neither of us recollect having met each other over the past 6–7 months during my twice-weekly visits.
Rizwan was at home as he had taken a few days of absence (losing his earnings!) from driving to spend time with his parivar on Ramzan. He’s still in a holiday mood and has not yet intimated his availability to drive SWIFT car carriers.
Sarwinder Kumar (extreme right in the above pix), another guarantor accompanying us on this trip, acknowledges that drivers often delay returning to fully immerse themselves in their family environment when they go home. This dedication to their families is truly admirable. But why was Sarwinder, who was a full-fledged car carrier driver for a long time but subsequently turned into a guarantor with his flock from western Uttar Pradesh — Agra, Mainpuri, Etawah, Mathura, etc.- doing on this trip into someone’s den?
For the record, it must be stated that when he first heard at the Jamalpur yard for the first time a few months ago, the Parivar Connect concept demanded that the maiden PC be to Uttar Pradesh — his bastion! But Sawai Madhopur of guarantor Mufid Khan’s den got the priority over Sarwinder’s. The UP guarantor wanted a first-hand gyan of PC; thus, he was present on this trip. Even before we could return to Gurugram, he was drafting the list of his recruits and their family details. “When can we?” he kept asking. Not before June, I kept reminding him.
Prajapati’s hands were full: a gift packet (a half-a-litre thermos flask with cups), a Celebrations sweet box, and some fresh oranges picked up en route to Khatupura. And … a lot of love and affection for Rizwan and his parivar, which cannot be quantifiable!
Quickly, two coir cots emerged, and fresh bed sheets were spread. The women offered chilled water, followed by glasses of bubbly soft drink. A plate of biscuits and namkeen was placed. Hawk-eyed mother Aayesha ji stood ready to refill our glasses. It was hot. After all, it was the Indian April.
Bowled over by our frank approach, Rizwan’s mother jumped into the fray. She would sportingly pose with us for group photos and cajole other women who were hesitant to join the joyful occasion. She would escort us to a few more drivers’ homes in the neighbourhood and help us break the ice with that parivar. A bada salute to Aayesha ji!
Santosh offered Rizwan a new sky blue SWIFT-monogrammed T-shirt, and Prajapati helped him change T-shirts! Watching Rizwan change shirts was fun; even other drivers’ dads requested to wear the SWIFT T-shirt! None declined to entertain our request! The Parivar accepted us as part of theirs! Parivar Connect is NOT a PR exercise but a true bonding process. Just one visit is not going to change the fleet owner-driver rishta. However, the first step has been to gain their confidence that the company cares for its drivers’ parivar.
Visitors to the hinterland of truck drivers from the company where their wards serve are unheard of — unless for some hera pheri. Transport companies’ culture is to engage with the driver at their yards or branches, where they periodically visit for loads. Very few companies have any data regarding the family members — age, education, health, etc. All they have are scanned copies of their driver’s licenses and Aadhar cards. Nothing more, nothing less. Ironically, none of the companies have HR handling truck drivers.
The HR department is for the white-collar folks serving the transport company and on their payrolls. Drivers are sourced through third parties, called “guarantors.” The guarantor can be a driver shepherding a few whom he brought into service and stands guarantee for their behaviour during their job execution. It is no secret that the guarantors recruit their neighbours from their villages because they know the parivar well. This familiarity will be handy if something goes wrong and the errant recruit has to be “disciplined.”
Another reason fleet owners opt for the guarantor route is to avoid driver unionisation and the statutory compliance of various social security benefits. No wonder transporters are unable to source better drivers. Everything hinges on the guarantor’s shoulders. Take it or leave it.
The Sawai Madhopur visit was planned to meet guarantor Mafid Khan’s flock of drivers he recruited for SWIFT Roadlink. His performance as a driver and responsible guarantor is good, and there is nothing to complain about — so far, so good.
Even before our departure, we knew that the dozen-odd Mafid’s drivers wouldn’t be at home but elsewhere ferrying fresh passenger cars for auto OEMs assigned to SWIFT Roadlink. That’s fine. The purpose is to meet THEIR families, not them. It would be good if they happened to be at home on the day of our visit.
Mafid had already alerted his team about the impending visit. Yet, towards the end of the day, a mother was uneasy, fearing whether her ward had done something wrong, warranting the company officials’ visit. Until her son emerged from the room and heard familiar voices, his mother did not reveal his availability at home!
Every family is genuinely curious to know why you came. This question is not out of suspicion but genuine interest because they were not used to company officials visiting them!
Santosh took the time to explain the concept of Parivar Connect. SWIFT aims to look beyond drivers and connect with their families: parents, spouses, children, overall health, and other issues. The families we met were initially unsure of the motive behind our visit, but as we explained, the first step to connect with the parivar was taken.
They love to chit-chat about their lifestyle: how they spend time, the frequency of their driver-son’s home visits, their health issues, their children’s education and their commuting to the nearest hospital or educational institutions, their festivities, and pure general topics. They love narrating. Perhaps they feel that some people from the city want to sit, talk, and hear their kahanis. Their love for storytelling is engaging and makes the conversation more lively.
Everyone has a story to tell, but few listeners. This is a serious conundrum for drivers, too. All stakeholders “lecture” them on various issues — mostly safety and nothing about drivers’ personal lives. Pity. Drivers are human, not robots. Interaction with families is an alien concept for a majority of transporters.
However, for the China-unleased COVID-19, drivers would have remained on the fringes. That life-snatching calamity brought to the surface the enormity of a life without truckers. Since then, a bit has changed. There is more talk about drivers, including Driver Day celebrations, Awards, TV shows, etc. We are still scratching the bottom, but anything is better than nothing.
Not that fleet-owning companies don’t care for them. I know of a handful who care for their drivers. Driver appreciation and connecting with their families has not gone mainstream. A few happenings here and there.
Contrast this with what’s happening in the corporate sector, even in transport companies. Birthday bashes for staff, mind wellness programmes, and family get-togethers. The only congregation drivers are exposed to are the low-hanging Health camps, organised at the drop of a hat with NGO support.
I am not drifting from the road trip to Sawai Madhopur. Instead, it offers a shipload of thoughts to ruminate and regurgitate.
(More to come)
