Possibly, the best trucker-friendly dhabas at Bhindki, near Nagpur

1. On the road with
Dar’Sel’Jamshedpur to Delhi
1-8 June, 2015
PART THIRTEEN
RAMESH KUMAR
Chairperson,
KRK Foundation +
Co-Founder,
Transport Mitra Services

2. You don’t need to be a Harvard don to
claim people connect is most essential to
succeed in anything. Pilots, leading a
nomadic life most of their living, are
thrilled to meet and interact with people
they work for: fleet owners, supervisors
etc. Particularly while they are on duty viz.,
on highways.

3. S

4. Before calling it a day on Day 7, we
find a large format fuel station of
HPCL on the Allahabad Bypass (NH2)
and the young Patil plays a perfect
host. A local and the man in charge
of this Company Owned Company
Operated fuel pump is the only
outlet on this stretch….

5. This pump’s blueprint, shared by HPCL,
has a detailed planning for a proper
large parking area for long haul
truckers, rest room, eateries for pilots
separately. HPCL COCO officer,
informed about our arrival at this
pump, interacts over phone to discuss
joint action in driver welfare measures
along with us. Many a time, the dealer
at the outlet goes scot-free because oil
marketing companies – be it IOC, HPCL
or BPCL – do NOT pay adequate
attention to supervising or managing
driver rest room facilities created with
tax payers’ money – that’s yours and
mine. Everything is left to the discretion
of dealer who converts such facilities
into his own dumping yard. Don’t
believe? On your next trip, check out!

6. Must tell you about the last night visit to Thakur Ka Dhaba at
Bhindki, 40 km before Nagpur towards Delhi. This place,
a favourite with truckers, looks like a great facility compared
to what we usually see on highways. Huge wooden cots for seating, eating and
sleeping and to beat the scorching summer, huge desert coolers at both ends that
services approx. 30-40 pilots at any point of time.

7. At the height of summer
when mercury breaches 43
degrees Celsius plus and
you’ve driven in such a terrific
heat – add the engine heat
inside the pilot cabin – for
over 250 km in a day – Thakur
Ka Dhaba at Bhindki is like an
oasis. You park your vehicle at
the spacious front yard, step
out, wash, eat and step in for
manpasand khana at
affordable rate and then …
hug Dame Sleep to beat
fatigue. What more one can
ask for?

8. What kind of medical help a long haul pilot is getting?
Look at the kind of posters that are displayed at dhabas
mostly. Some special powdered item to take care of his
digestion or some pain relief from the poorly fabricated pilot seat in Indian trucks.
Pilot comfort is the least priority for Indian HCV OEMs and fleet owners until recently.
But things are changing of late! Though he (pilot) is vital from overall economic
perspective, he is the most neglected entity!

9. Why pilots’ health is important from overall perspective?
It’s a fact that …
Indian trucks are not air-conditioned and hence they are supposed to drive in
extreme hot conditions.
Heat saps energy. A sweaty working condition irritates and affects work
performance. Imagine yourself sitting in a fan-less or not centrally air conditioned
office. Our – the so called white collar walas - own productivity will take a hit.
Second, does he have a fixed lunch hour? Even raising a question like this is a joke.
He has to find a suitable parking space before his hunger is doused. Not like you
and I walking into the office canteen – subsidized or otherwise or stepping out for a
sumptuous lunch at a restaurant.
What does he eat? Roti, Daal, Onion and Mirchi. Lot of masala spiced sabzi or
meat/mutton cooked in very unhygienic kitchen at dhabas. So food quality is a lot
to be desired. What we eat, makes what we are.
Where does he rest or sleep at night?
Not in airconditioned bedroom or a ceiling with fan. But inside the constricted pilot
cabin – ventilated or not. He is more worried about cargo and vehicle safety and
hence avoids leaving his vehicle and going and sleeping in dhaba cots – another
eyesore with smelly blankets and mostly his own bent arms as headrest. No
pillows.

10. A medical clinic for pilots … One day
mela!

11. When pilots don’t eat well and sleep well, fatigue is the
net result.
Fatigue leads to restlessness and disturbed mindset.
And …Disturbed mind results
in highway mishaps.
Add tension on highways
Surreptitiously we dumped all
our responsibilities on the
so called uneducated and illiterate
pilots asking him to fend for
himself once on highways.
With bribe seeking highway
authorities, police, tax authorities,
pilots are always on tenterhooks.
Tension is bad for health.
If all these does not warrant a regular and proper medical check up, what else?
Do we genuine care for pilots?
If not, we MUST.
After all, he is the LIFELINE for 1.2 billion mouths to be fed.
1.2 billion bodies to be clothed.
So pilots healthcare is very important.

12. That night, we hit the bed at Jeet Dhaba, bang opposite
Thakur Ka Dhaba. Jeet is another marvelous trucker-
friendly dhaba. Why?

13. Look at this picture …
Does it look like a trucker-dhaba? Yes, it is. At least,
somebody thought these pilots deserve a ‘shandaar’
rest room. No oil marketing company’s approach. Genuine concern with a business
focus. A big salute to Jeet dhaba at Bhindki…

14. Neat & Clean dhaba. Unusual.
Darcl pilots’most favourite
halting point, no wonder.

15. Gifting & sweet sharing