Carriers
57min 00 sec
00:00
START
00:00:17
Dharam Vir
In India it is assumed that there are six million truck drivers. It’s a mobile community. One could compare them to the gypsies of the past. Most people think he’s a rowdy, loud street fighter. Otherwise he can’t be sitting behind those deadly machines which have no discipline, which carry illegal goods, which make a lot of black money, which carry illicit liquor. Basically a truck driver is looked upon as part of the criminal and underground network. (Pause)
The first image of a truck driver is a turban clad Sikh, burly big Sikh, who likes his food, and who is sprawled on a charpoy [bed], whether it is Tamil Nadu or Bengal, who gets by without speaking any local language.
First because the number of truck drivers have grown more, the fatalities involved with trucks have grown more, the pollution from trucks and traffic have grown more, on top of this, things like AIDS have appeared, so a truck driver is looked upon as the carrier of a number of anti-social qualities.
01:37:23
Yadav
I’ve been driving for 23, 24 years.
01:42:07--But to this day I have never let any relative,
01:45:09--nephew, friend or friend’s relative
01:48:03--come into this business.
01:51:12--why?
01:53:02--Laboring, laboring the driver dies,
01:54:10--and deducting, deducting the master lives on.
01:55:23--They kill with their pen, we die working.
01:58:23
Rajendar
Our biggest problem today is that the general public hates us.
02:03:17--We do their essential work,
02:07:20--and we get cursed at.
02:09:22--Without us no goods would go from place to place.
02: 13:08--We take everything from food to clothes, from city to city.
02:18:05--The police harass us, at night the public steals from us.
02:22:22--This is the least honored job.
02:25:23--In the market today, there is no respect for any truck driver or owner.
02: 30:03--We want to work well, dress well and live according to the law.
02:36:02-- But there is no such thing as law and order.
02:39:09
Jai Singh
There is no honour or respect in driving. No one thinks of it as a career.
04: 55
Dharam Vir
It is normally estimated that the size of the parallel, underground economy—of which the trucking industry is an operating system—is as big as the legal economy. It is one is to one, if not more.
05:13:06
Union Leader
There is legislative support for truck owners, but not executive.
05:18:19--Why?
05:20:16--Because the police themselves
05:22:05--are interested in collecting money from truck owners.
05:24:13--So if the laws are executed then they can’t make money in bribes.
05:31:19--The worst ones are the customs officers,
05:34:19--who make hundreds of thousands of rupees under the table.
05:38:14--Thirty percent of our trucks travel without papers and without paying tax,
05:43:11--but we still pay illegally,
to the police and the customs officers.
05:50:01--Thirty percent of the total trucking revenue never reaches the government,
05:53:15-- it is all part of the parallel black economy.
06:08:18
Rajendar
Before I had no income,
06:11:13--then I became a truck driver cum owner,
06:15:11--I saved money, bought land and a tractor.
06:20:00--My family helps, but I am the main money maker, while I am the least educated.
06: 25:20--I would have been even more successful, but my trucks had some terrible accidents,
06:29:08--I had some accidents in my life, so I got behind.
06:34:02--Otherwise I would’ve had three, four trucks by now.
06:43:10--I failed tenth grade.
06:46:17--I was eighteen and saw others driving cars
06:52:05--so wanted to learn myself.
06:56:01--My father-in-law had a car in Kolkata, so I worked as a private taxi driver with him.
07:03:04--For three years I worked very hard and didn’t go home though I was married.
07:10:15--why?
07:12:12--Because I had plans, ambitions. I wanted my own car.
07:15:20---I bought my own car.
07:18:03--When I was a taxi driver I often had foreign clients and took them sight-seeing.
07:22:11--I roamed around a lot,sometimes for movie shoots.
07:24:18--I used to take the foreigners to see the best, most beautiful sights of Kolkata.
07:29:20--They enjoyed themselves and so did I.
07:33:19--But once I started driving trucks, I left that kind of life behind. (pause)
07:43:13--I was driving from Andhra to Kolkata with a truck full of sunflower oil.
07:47:22--The oil in tin cans made the truck sway from side to side.
07:54:12--It was that kind of thing.
07:56:10--On the road in front of me there was another truck,
07:59:02--and in front of him a herd of goats suddenly passed.
08:05:07--He braked.
08:07:04--Meanwhile, I was looking to the side
08:09:15--toward the ocean, where they make salt.
08:11:23--I was looking and thinking, “What a lot of salt today.”
08:15:1--My eyes were there, here he used the emergency brakes,
08:18:2--_and I was gone.
08:20:19--I really tried to save the truck, but I couldn’t.
08:24:04--I broke both my legs.
08:26:11--Twenty trucks stopped on that road to help when they knew about the accident.
08:34:13--I was taken to Kolkata for treatment,
08:37:11--and then I stopped driving and employed this driver.
08:41:04--I still travel with the truck.
08:43:06--If I don’t go, then I don’t make money.
08:45:00--If I don't go, the thing is, he's a good driver,
08:48:08--but without me he'll go and say, "I'll carry these goods, I won't carry those."
08:52:07--He'll only carry what's profitable for him.
08:55:09--It took nine months for my legs to heal.
08:59:05--It was so bad at one point that they said they would amputate.
09:03:22--You know what I did?
09:06:0--I said, “No, doctor,
09:08:04--I've kept 10,000 rupees under my bed. It's all there.
09:12:23--If you have to cut off my legs, give me an injection and finish me off.
09:17:06--But I will not go home lame.”
09:19:20 (music starts)
09:29:03--I do believe in God,
09:31:17--but I stay away from the masquerade of religion.
09:34:24--Most people go to the temple, do all the rituals and prayers,
09:41:21--but outside are dishonest and immoral.
09:44:07--These people fill the temples, and we are the ones pushed behind.
09:48:16--God can’t be bought.
09:51:06--So they buy idols, I don’t.
09:53:19--You can’t buy God if you buy idols.
09:57:22--If you look at God with love, then he is with you.
10:05:03--When we take our trucks and leave the cities,
10:07:19--we find fresh, cool air . . . no pollution, no smoke, no crowds.
10:12:20--There are times when the truck is going safely,
10:15:08--and four, five of us are traveling together, it's wonderful.
10:18:19--Like in a caravan. And life feels like a lovely picnic.
10:2:21--Along the way we eat, drink, chat and laugh.
10:27:08--And if the truck is forced to stop,
10:30:13--say the truck is stopped at a checkpoint,
10:33:00--we feel like our hearts have stopped.
10:36:22--If we don’t make friends on the way, how can we travel?
10:41:10--Say we run out of money, or diesel, or the truck breaks down,
10:44:21--who will help us but fellow drivers?
10:49:00--We all love leaving the city and returning to the highway.
10:54:08--We all go to a good dhaba [rest stop],
10:58:03--and tell the dhaba owner to start the water pump.
11:02:05--We get fresh water, nice baths, nice toilets, nice food, or just tea.
11:08:08--And if we don’t like the dhaba's food then we cook for ourselves on the way.
11:13:23--We get everything on the road.
11:19:06--When I used to get tired driving, or have a body ache,
11:23:06--then I started drinking.
11:25:16--Nothing regular, I’ve never been a regular drinker.
11:28:15--And I’m not addicted to any drugs.
11:31:02--The way some men are with alcohol . . .
11:34:13-- It's evening, you get restless, you need some.
11: 37:14--That I don't have.
11:40:06--But couple of guys get together, say, “Hey, Rajender, buy us a round,”
11: 46:21--so we go drink at a bar, have some fun.
11: 52:08--I tried opium four times.
11:54:07--I was traveling on this route near Hyderabad with four other trucks,
12:01:15--but they weren’t getting sleepy, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
12:06:01--Now I was sleepy, but if I didn't arrive by morning I wouldn't get to unload,
12: 11:08--and I would have to go alone.
12:13:10--So I said, "Hey, I just can't drive." There was no extra driver, either.
12:18:14--So one of the other drivers gave me this “medicine” and didn’t tell me it was opium.
12:22:24--He put some in my tea.
12:25:11--I had it with tea.
12:28:21--When I sat in the truck, next thing I knew I was in Hyderabad, didn’t stop once.
12:36:14--So I bought some.
12:39:15--It was great, you could drive for hours, reach anywhere on time.
12:45:19--But the problem is you get constipated, your face dries up, and you get terrible heartburn.
12:53:01--Mostly Sikhs take opium.
12:57:20-- Truck drivers only take opium to stay awake, that is all.
13:01:15--And then they get hooked.
13:06:07--By the roadside, next to their wheels, I often see drivers with their heads in their hands,
13:11:12--saying, “Got some black goods?”. . . meaning opium.
13:15:12--And I say, “Sorry.”
13:17:10--Many drivers work hard and improve their lives,
13:23:14--and many ruin themselves.
13:25:23--They stop supporting their families back home,
13:27:23--and they just blow their money on whatever takes their fancy.
13:30:10--Many drivers I know, they're old, eyes ruined through driving.
13:34:00--Many drivers I know from my time have become beggars.
13:37:24--They’re severe opium addicts, too old for work.
13:41:11--They’ve no other choice but to beg.
13:44:16--They come to us drivers, and we give gladly.
13:50:24--After all, we’re used to giving donations to the police, who screw us over,
14:01:05--so why not give to a fellow driver who has fallen on bad days?
(pause)
14:14:05--I like the south of India best.
14:17:03--No dacoits and thieves there,
14:21:00--you can drive your truck all night without fear of violence or theft.
14:27:23--I’ve had only one theft.
14:31:06--It was night, we were sleeping in our truck cabin on the highway.
14:35:23--The thieves cut a small hole in our window,
14:40:18--sprinkled some sleeping powder and then climbed in.
14:44:10--We kept sleeping, and they took all our money.
14:50:04--When we drive, the police always stop us, ask for money and trouble us.
14:56:05--Sometimes, when we are a big group of drivers, we fight back.
15:00:18--We take the cop into the jungle and beat him up.
15:05:14--We tell him to leave drivers alone.
15:08:21--Of course we can’t do this near cities.
15:11:22--If a truck has an accident then the public often attacks the driver.
15:15:22--Even kill him.
15:17:19--If some pedestrian dies in Orissa, the people there poke out the driver’s eyes.
(pause)
15:26:22--Drivers all stick together, though we also quarrel
15:30:04--like when a truck overtakes too much, or bumps another.
15: 36:08--But in the face of adversity, we are one.
15:41:00--We live and travel as one.
15: 43:24--We have to, so we can help each other.
15:46:14--So many drivers die on the road.
15:49:00--On the way who knows what will happen to whom?
15:54:00-- So many times when there is an accident there is no medical help, no hospital,
15:57:05--and we bleed away, we bleed to death.
16:00:09--There are 36 castes in India, but truckers are one caste.
16:05:19--My driver is a Muslim, I am not, but I’ll eat whatever he cooks.
16:14:13--I have no caste prejudice.
16: 17:13--If I did, my truck wouldn’t move, and I would live like a sadhu in the village.
16:22:02
Yadav
The situation in India is so bad, there is neither law nor government.
16:28:06--Even when our papers are in order, the traffic police stop us
16:33:08-- They say you aren’t wearing shoes, or the right shirt, all kinds of rubbish.
16:39:23-- Why do they do this?
16:42:13--Because they want money. And they won't let us go without it.
16:46:15--At the state borders
16:49:10-- there are government-employed customs officers with salaried jobs,
16:53:11--who want our money.
16:57:08--If we don’t pay them, they detain us and stop us for days.
17:03:10--Now, the driver has to reach his goal within certain days by order of the transporter.
17:10:21--But then the customs officer stops us for two days off the record, unless we bribe him.
17:17:10--Meanwhile the transporter has clearly said,
17:20:15--"You must arrive within seven days. For every day of delay, we'll deduct 500 rupees."
17:27:13--So out of desperation we pay the custom officers.
17:32:13--And whose money goes to pay this?
17:34:22--Not the transporter's, not the truck owner's.
17:37:00--It's the truck driver's money.
17:39:12--And when we tell the owner this is what happened, he doesn't care.
17:45:06--And then when it is time for the driver’s salary, the truck owner skims off the top.
17:50:19--Makes up reasons for giving a little less all the time.
17:56:18--We are being exploited at every side.
17:59:13--If the transporter cuts the truck owner’s money, then the driver’s wages get cut.
18:05:07--The poorest man.
18:08:19--What can we do? Where can we go?
18:11:09--There is no union, and the government will never listen.
18:14:22--And the cops, those we should report to, are themselves robbers.
18:20:13--Everyone is looting the driver.
19:05:00
Dharam Vir
My family before the independence of India, the partition of India, lived in what is Pakistan today. Part of the family was in the transport business, both buses and trucks. Earlier also truck drivers had the same kind of life. You could pick up a girl, buy a wife, change your partner, or you could have one partner in the Bombay shanties, and one in the Delhi shanties.
20:12:02
Ram Prakash
Twenty years ago there was nothing, no income.
20:18:17--My big brother went to the city and got a job as a truck cleaner.
20:25:12--He then learned to drive.
20:28:10--He bought his own truck and came back to the village.
20:35:10--He taught me and my uncle, and we taught others,
20:39:05--and now things are good.
20:42:01--We have money and land.
20:44:20--My brother has twenty or twenty-five trucks. I have three or four.
20:48:22--We have a transporter business and tire shop in Jodhpur.
20:53:02--Our biggest client is Shisha Industries in Goa.
20:56:06--One hundred trucks are loaded daily from Goa,
21:00:18--Fifty of pig iron, fifty of coal.
21:05:01--They all go north to Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
21:10:01--When I was young I never liked studies, but my big brother wanted me to study.
21:17:03--Teachers used to beat me at school, but I would still run off.
21:22:14--Then I became a good athlete and was on the state team.
21:27:23--Wherever I went I won.
21:30:21--I also played on the national team.
21:32:22--After reaching the top, I was satisfied.
21:36:08--Then what to do?
21:38:15--My brother would bring trucks to the village, and I would drive them in the big field.
21:46:10--So I really wanted to be a driver.
21:49:02--I didn’t want a regular job, like in the army, because then you get tied down,
21:56:07--can’t come home when you like, can’t be your own boss.
22:00:10--A driver’s life is good.
22:03:04--You have all the comforts,things to see, food to eat,
22:10:06--a girl when you want, and always money in your pocket.
22:16:12--There's no problem for the truck driver with money.
22:19:07--Sitting in the village, where is the income?
22:23:20--You just go to sleep and wake up to the same problems.
22:28:05--There is no rain these days in the village. There is no money.
22:31:16--In my village there are 3,000 people.
22:34:01--There is a severe drought on.
22:36:10--We have a school and a college,girls and boys separate.
22:44:15--There are also 100, 200 trucks in the village and 500 drivers or more.
22: 52:20--Our guru set down 31 rules for our community.
22:55:22--Only someone who obeys these rules day in and day out
22:58:18-- is a true member of our caste.
23:01:03--We have to get up early in the morning, and bathe first thing.
23:05:15--Then we have to say our prayers.
23:11:00--And when we eat, we can only eat food we cooked ourselves.
23:15:05--Women cover their faces
23:19:00--and don’t show them to any grown man except their husband.
23:23:13--Women also eat separately, after feeding the men first.
23:27:22-- They wash our clothes and do all the housework.
23:33:13--Children are married off young . . .fifteen, sometimes twelve.
23:38:02--So we have good and bad traditions.
23:41:14--The village elderly usually get together in a large group
23:48:00-- and go visit whoever has the opium.
23:52:16--They mix it up in one big bowland drink from it.
23:57:22--We have to look after them and feed them.
24:02:23--They don’t work but look after the kids when the women work in the fields.
24:12:06--Our guru also asked us to protect spotted deer,
24:15:18-- all life, but deer especially.
24:19:16-I have four kids, two girls and two boys.
24:24:16--I really miss them.
24:29:12--Especially the third one, my son Vijay.
24:36:03--When I am due to come back to the village,
24:39:02--he waits up for meand doesn’t sleep or eat till I get home,
24:43:00-- and shouts for me, “Papa Papa!”
24:51:02--I was very keen on driving.
24:53:16--My in-laws wanted me to study and said they would pay for my upkeep.
24:59:10--I turned them down, saying I could support myself, I didn’t need them.
25:06:00--I was in the mood to drive, so I ran away with a truck.
25:12:14--My brother caught me, beat me and dragged me back to school,
25:16:16--but I ran away again, so then they said, “Let him go.”
25:20:13--Our guru forbade all addictive things:
25:23:23--alcohol, opium, heroin, tobacco, meat and even tea.
25:28:21--The rules are so strict that we should only eat food cooked by a caste member.
25:35:08--But there is no money in the village, and so we have to leave and go outside on trucks.
25:40:12--Once we start drivingwe cannot obey those strict rules.
25:44:20--We can’t bathe on time, or eat on time, or pray on time.
25:49:12--Only the elderly in our village still follow those rules.
26:11:04--When I was young, fifteen, sixteen, I still wore shorts,
26:17:12--I had a good body from playing sports.
26:20:21--My cousin who's a truck driver
26:24:05--wanted to take me to the red light area in Mumbai.
26:28:12--He was a regular. But I said I wouldn’t do such things.
26:33:20--He took me to look anyway.
26:37:17--I went and ten, fifteen girls surrounded me
26:41:18-- and started pinching and playing with me.
26:45:14--But I refused to go with them.
26:47:21--They laughed and said,
“Why did you come then? This is no temple.”
26:50:08--I said I was too young.
26:55:04--At the time I was still in school, and I was friendly with this girl.
26:58:17--So I asked her,
"Will you make love with me?"
27:01:19--She said, "No."
27:03:08--She said, "Not yet."
So then I said, "When?"
27:06:00--She said, "The day after I get married." I tried hard to convince her, but she said no.
27:12:10--She kept her word.
27:15:15--After her marriage, she came back and spent the night with me.
27:19:16--We only did it a few times, because she said it wasn't the right thing to do.
27:24:21--And if we ever got found out, there would be big problems in our community.
27:32:06--I pay my truck’s driver 3,000 rupees a month.
27:35:23--And he eats opium worth more than that.
27:41:12--He spends all his income on opium and doesn’t give his family a penny.
27:48:13--On the road, at checkposts, this is a problem.
27:52:14--When they find out there is opium in the truck they ask for huge bribes.
27:59:16--It is a problem in many ways, but what to do? He is hooked.
28:04:01--What can his family do? They're desperate, too.
28:06:18--If they scold him too much, he'll run away.
28:08:13--He can't live without the stuff.
28:13:12--Drivers from our community all bring our own cooking things on the truck.
28:18:18--We cook with our own hands,
28:23:19-- especially in Goa where there are no vegetarian hotels.
28:28:16--It is great to drive with our clan
28:32:17--because if there is ever a shortage of money or diesel, I can get it easily.
28:39:10--If there is ever an accident or problem we stop and solve it together.
28:49:01--So it's very convenient driving with my fellow villagers.
28:52
Dharam Vir
Every truck that moves on the Indian roads picks up passengers. They are villagers who come out of their villages and wave to any truck passing by, who stops and picks up 8 or 10 villagers, onto the loaded truck, drives them 5 or 10 kilometres and charges them some money. This goes into the driver’s pocket and is part of his revenue. So the earning that a truck driver makes is more than any legal employment he can find.
30:52:06
Jai Singh
Twenty years,
30:54:14--twenty I’ve been in this business.
31:00:16--I used to have a smaller car, a jeep.
31:03:23--At that time a new Commander Jeep had come out.
31:06:16--But then I sold it.
31:10:10--I never really drove it much. I only drive trucks for the company.
31:15:08--Problem was, my son started getting interested in driving, so I sold it.
31:20:21--This is a rotten line of work, but what can I do?
31:23:22--This is all I’ve ever learnt, so I have to stick to it.
31:29:04--This is the dirtiest job there is.
31:34:21--Before there used to be better money, but not today.
31:38:06--Because now every man is a driver.
31:40:16--Before it was hard to find truckers.
31:43:09--On the roads there was nothing before.
31:44:16--Traffic has gone up 75 percent in the last twenty years.
31:49:07--Yes, I definitely smoke cigarettes, even though I'm strapped for cash.
31:56:21--I smoke, I drink.
32:00:06--You should have told me,
32:02:23--I wouldn’t have been drunk the other day.
32:06:00--I’m fine serving the company, serving it well, serving for 25 years.
32:12:05--What will he ask me?
32:14:17--He started out with me,
32:17:03-- but now he is an officer, and I am the same zero.
32:20:16--What arrogant talk . . . you'll fire my brother?
32:23:11-Ha! You don't have the guts. I dare you to.
32:26:13--Once a driver always a driver.
32:30:22--I used to tip this guy twenty rupees to unload the truck.
32:37:05--But I don’t get promoted.
32:39:13--Once a driver always a driver.
32:41:13--I didn't drink nothing, just some beer.
32:45:03--Meat is a good thing, it gives one strength.
32:48:14--It’s better than alcohol.
32:50:17--But it doesn’t get you high.
32:53:00--I drink whiskey. What does beer do?
32:55:06--My brain's pickled. Been drinking hard for years.
33:00:11
Junior Driver
He can drink ten bottles and nothing happens.
33:03:03
Jai Singh
I've sent home a lot of money, now it's time to look after my own body.
33:07:01--I've made enough.
33:08:23--I didn't even smoke cigarettes before . . . forget alcohol.
33:14:09--But now, there's no money problem at home,
33:16:09--and I only have a few more days to live anyway.
33:18:14--In India only five drivers out of one hundred are straight.
33:22:11-The rest are gone.
33:24:11--One is victim to some addiction, one to another.
33:29:06--When it comes to visiting girls, things have really changed.
33:33:20--Drivers go home more. Before they'd be away for up to six months.
33:40:13--They still go these days, but fearing AIDS, it's much less.
33:46:12--The times are still bad.
33:51:03--In Andhra it is terrible,
33:54:23--fifteen-year-old girls on the streets, from all kinds of backgrounds.
34:01:01--God knows what diseases they have.
34:17:24--It has become their profession.
34:21:23--They are not just walking the streets, they live there.
34:25:19--You can go into their homes.
34:29:02--If a girl is born into such a home, she’ll do the same,
34:32:03--if a bride comes she’ll do the same.
34:33:16--It is a business.
34:34:20--This is why a driver is a fool.
34:37:07--He sees a girl and is gone.
34:44:20--That is where they blow all their money.
34:47:14
Junior Driver
Once a truck had an accident in the forest, and the driver was lying on the ground.
34:52:04--Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati were walking there.
34:55:03--She asked him to help the poor mortal,
35:00:24--and Lord Shiva said,
“Forget it, they are the lowest of the low.
35:05:09--There are 36 castes in the world,
35:07:19--and they're the 37th."
35:10:18--But she said she wouldn’t walk with him until he helped.
35:15:13--So Shiva said, "Fine. Let's go."
35:18:05--So Shiva and Parvati both went over, and Shiva asked the driver to stand up.
35:23:02--Lord Shiva said, "Tell me what troubles you."
35:25:23--The driver, looking at Parvati, said,
35:27:09--“Mother-fuck my troubles,
35:30:04--tell me where you got such hot goods?
35:33:08--Where can I get some?”
35:37:07--"Forget about my troubles."
35:39:11--Then the goddess Parvati cursed the driver,
35:42:08--saying, "All your life you will wander around,
35:44:11--searching for goods."
35:46:06--So that is what we do.
35:47:18
Jai Singh
No spender like the driver.
35:50:15--If you're sensible,the money can be quite good.
35:54:04--You get at least 10,000 rupees a month.
35:56:11--But drivers spend automatically.
35:58:14--Any beggar on the road, any woman,
36:00:17--everyone comes to ask the driver for money.
36:04:02--So nothing is saved.
36:07:11--In your youth you get hooked on driving, you want to know,
36:13:04--and only after you’ve learned do you realize what it is, how bad it is.
36:18:12--Looking at another driver’s life it looks great, wow!
36:21:21--But it's a worthless occupation.
36:40:02--I have an intelligent son.
36:43:20--Once he finishes his studies,
36:45:21--I'm not going to do this anymore.
36:47:22-- Not at all.
Santosh Kumar
38:32:06--I haven't studied much, only till fifth grade.
38:34:22--I was never interested in school.
38:37:06--After fifth grade all I did was play with my friends.
38:43:11--I had no interest in field work.
38:49:17--Then there came a time when I ran away from my village to Mumbai.
38:55:13--In the nearby hills there was a holy man’s ashram, and I went there a lot.
39:05:18--I liked their attitude to life, their talks and philosophy.
39:11:18--When I joined the guru’s ashram, the direction of my life changed.
39:18:04--I didn’t go home for fifteen, sixteen years.
39:21:20--I would serve my guru in whatever way I could,
39:28:16-- like tending to cows, which I liked to do.
39:36:10--Finally, my family insisted I return to the village.
39:42:13--My mother said that as long as she was alive, I should live with her.
39:48:05--She spoke with my guru.
39:52:21--My guru told me to obey my mother's wishes.
39:57:07--He said, "Return to society and live as you choose. I forbid you nothing."
40:02:06--He set me free.
40:04:00--But since he gave me full freedom, I too had to honour that trust.
40:09:21--As with parents who let their children go,
40:12:17-- if the children don’t understand their teachings then they are lost.
40:17:15--My family always had great hopes for me, the youngest son.
40:24:19--But I said, "That is not my fate. If it were,
40:27:08--why did I meet my guru at such a young age and change the direction of my life?"
40:33:08--After my return, my family insisted that I get married, but I refused.
40:36:03--If I spent my youth serving my guru, what would I do getting married at this age?
40:41:10--Besides, I joined the ashram with six other guys,
40:44:11-- and when I rejoined society,
40:46:08--they asked me not to betray them, those I left behind in the other world.
40:50:05--They asked me not to forget them.
40:52:02--Once my guru told me to leave, how could I disobey?
40:56:07--But some day I want, I hope to return.
41:27:24--I simply did not like being back in the village.
41:31:01--My heart was not in it.
41:33:24--So I was visiting a friend once, when I thought,
41:39:23--“If I can drive a car, why not a truck?”
41:44:24--And this thought came to haunt me.
41:47:20--My family never wanted me to be a driver.
41:51:19--They said, "Why don't you stay home? There is no shortage of anything here."
41:55:18--But what can you do but be yourself?
41:57:18--I saw another driving, so I started, too.
41:59:23--And slowly, slowly, slowly I got lost in it.
42:03:10--As a trucker, my life has no guarantees.
42:08:05--How can I suppress my desires,
42:12:05--knowing that I could die at any moment?
42:17:09--If I don’t keep my mind free and happy, live for the moment,
42:22:01--then I can’t be a truck driver.
42:25:08--I’m from Uttar Pradesh, so I love bhang [Indian cannabis].
42:29:23--I do take it quite a bit.
42:32:24--It is healthy for you,
42:35:07-- there are no negative effects on your mind or thoughts.
42:40:00--The special thing about the high is,
42:42:14--whatever you focus your thoughts on when you take it,
42:45:18-- you get lost in those thoughts.
42:48:14--Like sadhus who take it to reach spiritual ecstasy.
42:55:06--When I take it while driving,
42:59:06--I focus my thoughts on a pleasant, uneventful journey,
43:05:08--where I hurt no one and reach my destination.
43:25:21--I'm especially fond of Benares.
43:29:09--I love the culture and atmosphere there.
43:33:13--It's also a treasure house of bhang.
43:37:23--If you have bhang there once,
43:40:04--you’ll always remember it and go back for more.
43:43:14--You get such a light, lovely high,
you can’t imagine.
44:00:01--She was a girl in my village, and we were betrothed.
44:05:12--But I ran away to the ashram.
44:09:12--She waited a long time for me.
44:15:12--She wrote to me that now that I had taken an odd turn in life,
44:20:01--she too might do something strange.
44:23:08--Love for her meant complete union,
44:28:20--losing and erasing oneself in another.
44:33:10--So I replied, "Look, now that I have embarked on this path,
44:37:17--you should support me, not pull me back.
44:41:01--If you truly love me, that is.
44:45:07--And if you try to commit suicide or do something strange,
44:48:17--it will only create a scandal."
44:52:19--Then she asked,
"When will you come home?"
44:55:01--I said, "I'll come back when I want, but I will come back."
44:57:15--So years later I went back, and she had gotten married to someone and had children.
45:02:10--Life changes.
45:04:22--And then I asked her, what about love?
45:07:08--So all this love shove is a matter of age.
45:12:24--It happens to everyone at a certain time and passes.
45:15:15--This life that I'm leading is fleeting,
45:20:05--but that other world is immortal.
45:24:12--I don't tell other truckers how I think,
45:28:08--because I think it best to immerse myself in this society.
45:31:06--Spiritual matters are private.
45:35:08--Now that I've committed myself to driving, there is no question of like or dislike.
45:42:16--There's no point in leaving things incomplete.
45:49:12--You're alive one day and gone the next.
45:55:17--Let me tell you something. This world is built on lies.
46:00:24--If I don't lie . . . in everything . . .
46:05:20-- I have to lie. If I tell the truth, no one will let me be.
46:10:12--The thing I enjoy most is to be left alone, with my thoughts,
46:16:15--so I can meditate and think of my guru.
46:20
Dharam Vir
So a lot of accidents happen not because they are drunk or untrained, but because they are over worked and exhausted. There are no norms regarding their working hours. There is no job security. They work. And if they fall ill, there is no social security.
46:32:24
Doctor
Twenty-five to thirty percent
of truck drivers
46:36:08--do catch up with STDs, one time or the other.
46:38:10--Way back in '96, '97, we did conduct a survey,
46:42:04--and at that time it was estimated that about seven to eight percent
46:45:22-- prevalence of HIV positives is there among truck drivers themselves.
46:49:11--The main objectives of our program are these:
46:51:23--to create a critical awareness about HIV, AIDS,
46:54:20--and also about sexually transmitted diseases;
46:57:06--promoting condoms as one of the most
46:59:04--potent preventive measures against HIV AIDS.
47:03:10--Homosexuality is prevalent among the truck drivers.
47:06:15
Ram Prakash
Sikhs do it a lot.
47:08:09--They don’t marry, and so they have to make do on the way.
47:13:11--They have a young apprentice,
47:15:20--and they spend lots of money on him, feed him well,
47:20:07--and then at night they grease him up and do their stuff.
47:26:14--The apprentice is desperate to learn the trade and so doesn’t say anything.
47:39:19
Kumkum Banerjee
Sex workers on the Nepal-India border and the Bangladesh-India border
47:45:11-- are non-brothel-based sex workers.
47:54:03--Brothel-based are easier to work with, I have worked with them too.
47:59:13--We can go and talk to them directly and frankly:
48:04:15--“You are a sex worker, these are the risks,
48:07:19--you should do this to protect yourself from AIDS.”
48:11:13--They accept this, too.
48:13:22--But in the border areas the women are community-based sex workers,
48:18:20--who have husbands and kids and do this out of dire poverty.
48:26:14--These women are ashamed to admit their work,
48:28:23--so for us it is very hard to educate them.
48:31:15--The Bangladesh border is a restricted border,
48:34:10--so each truck has to stop for seven or eight days before they cross.
48:39:09--So what can these drivers do for ten days?
48:42:02--I’m not saying that everyone does this,
48:44:22--but if they’re away from home for so long,
48:47:14--the men do seek out sex.
48:53:09
Rajendar
I used to drive from Kolkata to Madras.
48:57:21--Once driving on that route I got very tired,
49:06:11-- but I just had to reach Madras the next day and unload my goods.
49:11:11-- I saw a small dhaba, thought I would have some tea,
49:17:01--walk around, wake up and get some energy.
49:24:00--A man came up to me and said,
“Hey, you want to go?”
49:29:13--I didn’t know it was that kind of dhaba,
49:35:02--I said, “I just want tea.”
49:41:09--But I was young then so I went inside with him
49:44:14--and saw twelve beautiful girls,
49:47:12--each dressed in up-to-date fashion, with make up, powder, the works.
49:55:14--And their age?
Fifteen, sixteen years old.
49:59:09--He said, “Enjoy yourself.”
50:01:17--I asked, “How much?”
50:03:22--He said, “50 rupees.”
I said, “No, I’ll give 20.”
50:09:24--Then a girl came to me in a nearby room.
50:13:04--It was more like a shack with a bamboo partition.
50:21:02--And what had to happen, did.
50:24:22--Then I started to ask her her name, where she was from,
50:27:19--how she came into this business.
50:30:03--But there was a language problem.
50:32:12--Still I tried to tell her that this was not good work,
50:36:15--that she was so beautiful.
50:38:20--They were all lovely.
50:41:01--Those were different times.01:50:01:50:44:11--Then I caught an infection,
but got treated.
50:47:21--AIDS was not around then.
50:53:03--Soon I started to notice these condom-dispensing boxes along the highways.
50:59:11--Four for one rupee.
51:02:09
Santosh Kumar
I was driving alone when my cleaner said,
51:06:11--"Someone is asking for a lift."
51:10:00--I said sure, it being night.
51:12:10--He said it was a girl.
51:15:22--I wondered what a girl would be doing at this time of night.
51:19:10--Maybe she was from the neighboring village, I thought, and wanted to go to the city.
51:24:01--So I decided to give her a lift.
51:26:18--But she wouldn’t sit.
51:29:24--She wanted me to come down,she just wanted to talk to me.
51:35:11--She was dressed first class, like a school girl.
51:37:20--A hot school girl.
51:39:07--I was sleepy anyway. I thought this could be fun,
51:42:04--so I got off.
51:44:05--Then she said, "Come further."
51:46:20--But I stopped.
51:48:19--I was a little suspicious.
51:50:13--If she is a girl why is she teasing?
51:53:13--And if she wants a lift, why does she keep walking?
51:56:01--And why does she want me to keep following her?
51:58:18--So I stopped right there.
52:00:09--She kept asking me to come.
52:03:05--I said, "You come to me."
52:07:19--Suddenly she disappeared.
52:09:22--I went back to my truck and took off.
52: 11
Dharam Vir
A truck even if it becomes defunct or if it is in an accident is cannibalized for parts. If the truck tires are worn out, they are recycled onto a bullock cart’s wheels. If they are then worn out as a bullock cart’s wheels, they are sold to the footwear manufacturer who makes rudimentary footwear for the village folk. Like an animal’s carcass, a truck’s bone and parts are used to the end, till they disappear.
54:30:06
Santosh
Society says a lot of things about drivers.
54:33:21--What society thinks, its ways of understanding . . .
54:36:18--I have no use for them. I work in my own way.
54:40:14--People say a lot of things. Let them.
54:43:17--They only see me from their perspective. They don't recognize me.
54:48:00--They only see my external self.
54:50:22--What is good in me, what is bad in me . . .they can't know that.
54:54:05--They only project the good and bad in themselves on me.
54:58:14--By calling me bad, they think they are good.
55:03:15--Let them say what they will. Opinions don't make reality.
55: 05
Dharam Vir
We know that India is a developing country, a poor country. But I would say that a peasant in the Indian condition still has his own joys, his poetry and music, his home, even if it is a mud home. Whereas a truck driver’s life as distinct from what you would see in Europe or the West is drastically different. 6 million people, its almost the population of Norway, Sweden. Sweden is 8 million. It’s a large, large community and something ought to be done to bring some joy into their lives. And this would definitively change the perception of what a truck driver is also.
57min 00 sec
00:00
START
00:00:17
Dharam Vir
In India it is assumed that there are six million truck drivers. It’s a mobile community. One could compare them to the gypsies of the past. Most people think he’s a rowdy, loud street fighter. Otherwise he can’t be sitting behind those deadly machines which have no discipline, which carry illegal goods, which make a lot of black money, which carry illicit liquor. Basically a truck driver is looked upon as part of the criminal and underground network. (Pause)
The first image of a truck driver is a turban clad Sikh, burly big Sikh, who likes his food, and who is sprawled on a charpoy [bed], whether it is Tamil Nadu or Bengal, who gets by without speaking any local language.
First because the number of truck drivers have grown more, the fatalities involved with trucks have grown more, the pollution from trucks and traffic have grown more, on top of this, things like AIDS have appeared, so a truck driver is looked upon as the carrier of a number of anti-social qualities.
01:37:23
Yadav
I’ve been driving for 23, 24 years.
01:42:07--But to this day I have never let any relative,
01:45:09--nephew, friend or friend’s relative
01:48:03--come into this business.
01:51:12--why?
01:53:02--Laboring, laboring the driver dies,
01:54:10--and deducting, deducting the master lives on.
01:55:23--They kill with their pen, we die working.
01:58:23
Rajendar
Our biggest problem today is that the general public hates us.
02:03:17--We do their essential work,
02:07:20--and we get cursed at.
02:09:22--Without us no goods would go from place to place.
02: 13:08--We take everything from food to clothes, from city to city.
02:18:05--The police harass us, at night the public steals from us.
02:22:22--This is the least honored job.
02:25:23--In the market today, there is no respect for any truck driver or owner.
02: 30:03--We want to work well, dress well and live according to the law.
02:36:02-- But there is no such thing as law and order.
02:39:09
Jai Singh
There is no honour or respect in driving. No one thinks of it as a career.
04: 55
Dharam Vir
It is normally estimated that the size of the parallel, underground economy—of which the trucking industry is an operating system—is as big as the legal economy. It is one is to one, if not more.
05:13:06
Union Leader
There is legislative support for truck owners, but not executive.
05:18:19--Why?
05:20:16--Because the police themselves
05:22:05--are interested in collecting money from truck owners.
05:24:13--So if the laws are executed then they can’t make money in bribes.
05:31:19--The worst ones are the customs officers,
05:34:19--who make hundreds of thousands of rupees under the table.
05:38:14--Thirty percent of our trucks travel without papers and without paying tax,
05:43:11--but we still pay illegally,
to the police and the customs officers.
05:50:01--Thirty percent of the total trucking revenue never reaches the government,
05:53:15-- it is all part of the parallel black economy.
06:08:18
Rajendar
Before I had no income,
06:11:13--then I became a truck driver cum owner,
06:15:11--I saved money, bought land and a tractor.
06:20:00--My family helps, but I am the main money maker, while I am the least educated.
06: 25:20--I would have been even more successful, but my trucks had some terrible accidents,
06:29:08--I had some accidents in my life, so I got behind.
06:34:02--Otherwise I would’ve had three, four trucks by now.
06:43:10--I failed tenth grade.
06:46:17--I was eighteen and saw others driving cars
06:52:05--so wanted to learn myself.
06:56:01--My father-in-law had a car in Kolkata, so I worked as a private taxi driver with him.
07:03:04--For three years I worked very hard and didn’t go home though I was married.
07:10:15--why?
07:12:12--Because I had plans, ambitions. I wanted my own car.
07:15:20---I bought my own car.
07:18:03--When I was a taxi driver I often had foreign clients and took them sight-seeing.
07:22:11--I roamed around a lot,sometimes for movie shoots.
07:24:18--I used to take the foreigners to see the best, most beautiful sights of Kolkata.
07:29:20--They enjoyed themselves and so did I.
07:33:19--But once I started driving trucks, I left that kind of life behind. (pause)
07:43:13--I was driving from Andhra to Kolkata with a truck full of sunflower oil.
07:47:22--The oil in tin cans made the truck sway from side to side.
07:54:12--It was that kind of thing.
07:56:10--On the road in front of me there was another truck,
07:59:02--and in front of him a herd of goats suddenly passed.
08:05:07--He braked.
08:07:04--Meanwhile, I was looking to the side
08:09:15--toward the ocean, where they make salt.
08:11:23--I was looking and thinking, “What a lot of salt today.”
08:15:1--My eyes were there, here he used the emergency brakes,
08:18:2--_and I was gone.
08:20:19--I really tried to save the truck, but I couldn’t.
08:24:04--I broke both my legs.
08:26:11--Twenty trucks stopped on that road to help when they knew about the accident.
08:34:13--I was taken to Kolkata for treatment,
08:37:11--and then I stopped driving and employed this driver.
08:41:04--I still travel with the truck.
08:43:06--If I don’t go, then I don’t make money.
08:45:00--If I don't go, the thing is, he's a good driver,
08:48:08--but without me he'll go and say, "I'll carry these goods, I won't carry those."
08:52:07--He'll only carry what's profitable for him.
08:55:09--It took nine months for my legs to heal.
08:59:05--It was so bad at one point that they said they would amputate.
09:03:22--You know what I did?
09:06:0--I said, “No, doctor,
09:08:04--I've kept 10,000 rupees under my bed. It's all there.
09:12:23--If you have to cut off my legs, give me an injection and finish me off.
09:17:06--But I will not go home lame.”
09:19:20 (music starts)
09:29:03--I do believe in God,
09:31:17--but I stay away from the masquerade of religion.
09:34:24--Most people go to the temple, do all the rituals and prayers,
09:41:21--but outside are dishonest and immoral.
09:44:07--These people fill the temples, and we are the ones pushed behind.
09:48:16--God can’t be bought.
09:51:06--So they buy idols, I don’t.
09:53:19--You can’t buy God if you buy idols.
09:57:22--If you look at God with love, then he is with you.
10:05:03--When we take our trucks and leave the cities,
10:07:19--we find fresh, cool air . . . no pollution, no smoke, no crowds.
10:12:20--There are times when the truck is going safely,
10:15:08--and four, five of us are traveling together, it's wonderful.
10:18:19--Like in a caravan. And life feels like a lovely picnic.
10:2:21--Along the way we eat, drink, chat and laugh.
10:27:08--And if the truck is forced to stop,
10:30:13--say the truck is stopped at a checkpoint,
10:33:00--we feel like our hearts have stopped.
10:36:22--If we don’t make friends on the way, how can we travel?
10:41:10--Say we run out of money, or diesel, or the truck breaks down,
10:44:21--who will help us but fellow drivers?
10:49:00--We all love leaving the city and returning to the highway.
10:54:08--We all go to a good dhaba [rest stop],
10:58:03--and tell the dhaba owner to start the water pump.
11:02:05--We get fresh water, nice baths, nice toilets, nice food, or just tea.
11:08:08--And if we don’t like the dhaba's food then we cook for ourselves on the way.
11:13:23--We get everything on the road.
11:19:06--When I used to get tired driving, or have a body ache,
11:23:06--then I started drinking.
11:25:16--Nothing regular, I’ve never been a regular drinker.
11:28:15--And I’m not addicted to any drugs.
11:31:02--The way some men are with alcohol . . .
11:34:13-- It's evening, you get restless, you need some.
11: 37:14--That I don't have.
11:40:06--But couple of guys get together, say, “Hey, Rajender, buy us a round,”
11: 46:21--so we go drink at a bar, have some fun.
11: 52:08--I tried opium four times.
11:54:07--I was traveling on this route near Hyderabad with four other trucks,
12:01:15--but they weren’t getting sleepy, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
12:06:01--Now I was sleepy, but if I didn't arrive by morning I wouldn't get to unload,
12: 11:08--and I would have to go alone.
12:13:10--So I said, "Hey, I just can't drive." There was no extra driver, either.
12:18:14--So one of the other drivers gave me this “medicine” and didn’t tell me it was opium.
12:22:24--He put some in my tea.
12:25:11--I had it with tea.
12:28:21--When I sat in the truck, next thing I knew I was in Hyderabad, didn’t stop once.
12:36:14--So I bought some.
12:39:15--It was great, you could drive for hours, reach anywhere on time.
12:45:19--But the problem is you get constipated, your face dries up, and you get terrible heartburn.
12:53:01--Mostly Sikhs take opium.
12:57:20-- Truck drivers only take opium to stay awake, that is all.
13:01:15--And then they get hooked.
13:06:07--By the roadside, next to their wheels, I often see drivers with their heads in their hands,
13:11:12--saying, “Got some black goods?”. . . meaning opium.
13:15:12--And I say, “Sorry.”
13:17:10--Many drivers work hard and improve their lives,
13:23:14--and many ruin themselves.
13:25:23--They stop supporting their families back home,
13:27:23--and they just blow their money on whatever takes their fancy.
13:30:10--Many drivers I know, they're old, eyes ruined through driving.
13:34:00--Many drivers I know from my time have become beggars.
13:37:24--They’re severe opium addicts, too old for work.
13:41:11--They’ve no other choice but to beg.
13:44:16--They come to us drivers, and we give gladly.
13:50:24--After all, we’re used to giving donations to the police, who screw us over,
14:01:05--so why not give to a fellow driver who has fallen on bad days?
(pause)
14:14:05--I like the south of India best.
14:17:03--No dacoits and thieves there,
14:21:00--you can drive your truck all night without fear of violence or theft.
14:27:23--I’ve had only one theft.
14:31:06--It was night, we were sleeping in our truck cabin on the highway.
14:35:23--The thieves cut a small hole in our window,
14:40:18--sprinkled some sleeping powder and then climbed in.
14:44:10--We kept sleeping, and they took all our money.
14:50:04--When we drive, the police always stop us, ask for money and trouble us.
14:56:05--Sometimes, when we are a big group of drivers, we fight back.
15:00:18--We take the cop into the jungle and beat him up.
15:05:14--We tell him to leave drivers alone.
15:08:21--Of course we can’t do this near cities.
15:11:22--If a truck has an accident then the public often attacks the driver.
15:15:22--Even kill him.
15:17:19--If some pedestrian dies in Orissa, the people there poke out the driver’s eyes.
(pause)
15:26:22--Drivers all stick together, though we also quarrel
15:30:04--like when a truck overtakes too much, or bumps another.
15: 36:08--But in the face of adversity, we are one.
15:41:00--We live and travel as one.
15: 43:24--We have to, so we can help each other.
15:46:14--So many drivers die on the road.
15:49:00--On the way who knows what will happen to whom?
15:54:00-- So many times when there is an accident there is no medical help, no hospital,
15:57:05--and we bleed away, we bleed to death.
16:00:09--There are 36 castes in India, but truckers are one caste.
16:05:19--My driver is a Muslim, I am not, but I’ll eat whatever he cooks.
16:14:13--I have no caste prejudice.
16: 17:13--If I did, my truck wouldn’t move, and I would live like a sadhu in the village.
16:22:02
Yadav
The situation in India is so bad, there is neither law nor government.
16:28:06--Even when our papers are in order, the traffic police stop us
16:33:08-- They say you aren’t wearing shoes, or the right shirt, all kinds of rubbish.
16:39:23-- Why do they do this?
16:42:13--Because they want money. And they won't let us go without it.
16:46:15--At the state borders
16:49:10-- there are government-employed customs officers with salaried jobs,
16:53:11--who want our money.
16:57:08--If we don’t pay them, they detain us and stop us for days.
17:03:10--Now, the driver has to reach his goal within certain days by order of the transporter.
17:10:21--But then the customs officer stops us for two days off the record, unless we bribe him.
17:17:10--Meanwhile the transporter has clearly said,
17:20:15--"You must arrive within seven days. For every day of delay, we'll deduct 500 rupees."
17:27:13--So out of desperation we pay the custom officers.
17:32:13--And whose money goes to pay this?
17:34:22--Not the transporter's, not the truck owner's.
17:37:00--It's the truck driver's money.
17:39:12--And when we tell the owner this is what happened, he doesn't care.
17:45:06--And then when it is time for the driver’s salary, the truck owner skims off the top.
17:50:19--Makes up reasons for giving a little less all the time.
17:56:18--We are being exploited at every side.
17:59:13--If the transporter cuts the truck owner’s money, then the driver’s wages get cut.
18:05:07--The poorest man.
18:08:19--What can we do? Where can we go?
18:11:09--There is no union, and the government will never listen.
18:14:22--And the cops, those we should report to, are themselves robbers.
18:20:13--Everyone is looting the driver.
19:05:00
Dharam Vir
My family before the independence of India, the partition of India, lived in what is Pakistan today. Part of the family was in the transport business, both buses and trucks. Earlier also truck drivers had the same kind of life. You could pick up a girl, buy a wife, change your partner, or you could have one partner in the Bombay shanties, and one in the Delhi shanties.
20:12:02
Ram Prakash
Twenty years ago there was nothing, no income.
20:18:17--My big brother went to the city and got a job as a truck cleaner.
20:25:12--He then learned to drive.
20:28:10--He bought his own truck and came back to the village.
20:35:10--He taught me and my uncle, and we taught others,
20:39:05--and now things are good.
20:42:01--We have money and land.
20:44:20--My brother has twenty or twenty-five trucks. I have three or four.
20:48:22--We have a transporter business and tire shop in Jodhpur.
20:53:02--Our biggest client is Shisha Industries in Goa.
20:56:06--One hundred trucks are loaded daily from Goa,
21:00:18--Fifty of pig iron, fifty of coal.
21:05:01--They all go north to Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
21:10:01--When I was young I never liked studies, but my big brother wanted me to study.
21:17:03--Teachers used to beat me at school, but I would still run off.
21:22:14--Then I became a good athlete and was on the state team.
21:27:23--Wherever I went I won.
21:30:21--I also played on the national team.
21:32:22--After reaching the top, I was satisfied.
21:36:08--Then what to do?
21:38:15--My brother would bring trucks to the village, and I would drive them in the big field.
21:46:10--So I really wanted to be a driver.
21:49:02--I didn’t want a regular job, like in the army, because then you get tied down,
21:56:07--can’t come home when you like, can’t be your own boss.
22:00:10--A driver’s life is good.
22:03:04--You have all the comforts,things to see, food to eat,
22:10:06--a girl when you want, and always money in your pocket.
22:16:12--There's no problem for the truck driver with money.
22:19:07--Sitting in the village, where is the income?
22:23:20--You just go to sleep and wake up to the same problems.
22:28:05--There is no rain these days in the village. There is no money.
22:31:16--In my village there are 3,000 people.
22:34:01--There is a severe drought on.
22:36:10--We have a school and a college,girls and boys separate.
22:44:15--There are also 100, 200 trucks in the village and 500 drivers or more.
22: 52:20--Our guru set down 31 rules for our community.
22:55:22--Only someone who obeys these rules day in and day out
22:58:18-- is a true member of our caste.
23:01:03--We have to get up early in the morning, and bathe first thing.
23:05:15--Then we have to say our prayers.
23:11:00--And when we eat, we can only eat food we cooked ourselves.
23:15:05--Women cover their faces
23:19:00--and don’t show them to any grown man except their husband.
23:23:13--Women also eat separately, after feeding the men first.
23:27:22-- They wash our clothes and do all the housework.
23:33:13--Children are married off young . . .fifteen, sometimes twelve.
23:38:02--So we have good and bad traditions.
23:41:14--The village elderly usually get together in a large group
23:48:00-- and go visit whoever has the opium.
23:52:16--They mix it up in one big bowland drink from it.
23:57:22--We have to look after them and feed them.
24:02:23--They don’t work but look after the kids when the women work in the fields.
24:12:06--Our guru also asked us to protect spotted deer,
24:15:18-- all life, but deer especially.
24:19:16-I have four kids, two girls and two boys.
24:24:16--I really miss them.
24:29:12--Especially the third one, my son Vijay.
24:36:03--When I am due to come back to the village,
24:39:02--he waits up for meand doesn’t sleep or eat till I get home,
24:43:00-- and shouts for me, “Papa Papa!”
24:51:02--I was very keen on driving.
24:53:16--My in-laws wanted me to study and said they would pay for my upkeep.
24:59:10--I turned them down, saying I could support myself, I didn’t need them.
25:06:00--I was in the mood to drive, so I ran away with a truck.
25:12:14--My brother caught me, beat me and dragged me back to school,
25:16:16--but I ran away again, so then they said, “Let him go.”
25:20:13--Our guru forbade all addictive things:
25:23:23--alcohol, opium, heroin, tobacco, meat and even tea.
25:28:21--The rules are so strict that we should only eat food cooked by a caste member.
25:35:08--But there is no money in the village, and so we have to leave and go outside on trucks.
25:40:12--Once we start drivingwe cannot obey those strict rules.
25:44:20--We can’t bathe on time, or eat on time, or pray on time.
25:49:12--Only the elderly in our village still follow those rules.
26:11:04--When I was young, fifteen, sixteen, I still wore shorts,
26:17:12--I had a good body from playing sports.
26:20:21--My cousin who's a truck driver
26:24:05--wanted to take me to the red light area in Mumbai.
26:28:12--He was a regular. But I said I wouldn’t do such things.
26:33:20--He took me to look anyway.
26:37:17--I went and ten, fifteen girls surrounded me
26:41:18-- and started pinching and playing with me.
26:45:14--But I refused to go with them.
26:47:21--They laughed and said,
“Why did you come then? This is no temple.”
26:50:08--I said I was too young.
26:55:04--At the time I was still in school, and I was friendly with this girl.
26:58:17--So I asked her,
"Will you make love with me?"
27:01:19--She said, "No."
27:03:08--She said, "Not yet."
So then I said, "When?"
27:06:00--She said, "The day after I get married." I tried hard to convince her, but she said no.
27:12:10--She kept her word.
27:15:15--After her marriage, she came back and spent the night with me.
27:19:16--We only did it a few times, because she said it wasn't the right thing to do.
27:24:21--And if we ever got found out, there would be big problems in our community.
27:32:06--I pay my truck’s driver 3,000 rupees a month.
27:35:23--And he eats opium worth more than that.
27:41:12--He spends all his income on opium and doesn’t give his family a penny.
27:48:13--On the road, at checkposts, this is a problem.
27:52:14--When they find out there is opium in the truck they ask for huge bribes.
27:59:16--It is a problem in many ways, but what to do? He is hooked.
28:04:01--What can his family do? They're desperate, too.
28:06:18--If they scold him too much, he'll run away.
28:08:13--He can't live without the stuff.
28:13:12--Drivers from our community all bring our own cooking things on the truck.
28:18:18--We cook with our own hands,
28:23:19-- especially in Goa where there are no vegetarian hotels.
28:28:16--It is great to drive with our clan
28:32:17--because if there is ever a shortage of money or diesel, I can get it easily.
28:39:10--If there is ever an accident or problem we stop and solve it together.
28:49:01--So it's very convenient driving with my fellow villagers.
28:52
Dharam Vir
Every truck that moves on the Indian roads picks up passengers. They are villagers who come out of their villages and wave to any truck passing by, who stops and picks up 8 or 10 villagers, onto the loaded truck, drives them 5 or 10 kilometres and charges them some money. This goes into the driver’s pocket and is part of his revenue. So the earning that a truck driver makes is more than any legal employment he can find.
30:52:06
Jai Singh
Twenty years,
30:54:14--twenty I’ve been in this business.
31:00:16--I used to have a smaller car, a jeep.
31:03:23--At that time a new Commander Jeep had come out.
31:06:16--But then I sold it.
31:10:10--I never really drove it much. I only drive trucks for the company.
31:15:08--Problem was, my son started getting interested in driving, so I sold it.
31:20:21--This is a rotten line of work, but what can I do?
31:23:22--This is all I’ve ever learnt, so I have to stick to it.
31:29:04--This is the dirtiest job there is.
31:34:21--Before there used to be better money, but not today.
31:38:06--Because now every man is a driver.
31:40:16--Before it was hard to find truckers.
31:43:09--On the roads there was nothing before.
31:44:16--Traffic has gone up 75 percent in the last twenty years.
31:49:07--Yes, I definitely smoke cigarettes, even though I'm strapped for cash.
31:56:21--I smoke, I drink.
32:00:06--You should have told me,
32:02:23--I wouldn’t have been drunk the other day.
32:06:00--I’m fine serving the company, serving it well, serving for 25 years.
32:12:05--What will he ask me?
32:14:17--He started out with me,
32:17:03-- but now he is an officer, and I am the same zero.
32:20:16--What arrogant talk . . . you'll fire my brother?
32:23:11-Ha! You don't have the guts. I dare you to.
32:26:13--Once a driver always a driver.
32:30:22--I used to tip this guy twenty rupees to unload the truck.
32:37:05--But I don’t get promoted.
32:39:13--Once a driver always a driver.
32:41:13--I didn't drink nothing, just some beer.
32:45:03--Meat is a good thing, it gives one strength.
32:48:14--It’s better than alcohol.
32:50:17--But it doesn’t get you high.
32:53:00--I drink whiskey. What does beer do?
32:55:06--My brain's pickled. Been drinking hard for years.
33:00:11
Junior Driver
He can drink ten bottles and nothing happens.
33:03:03
Jai Singh
I've sent home a lot of money, now it's time to look after my own body.
33:07:01--I've made enough.
33:08:23--I didn't even smoke cigarettes before . . . forget alcohol.
33:14:09--But now, there's no money problem at home,
33:16:09--and I only have a few more days to live anyway.
33:18:14--In India only five drivers out of one hundred are straight.
33:22:11-The rest are gone.
33:24:11--One is victim to some addiction, one to another.
33:29:06--When it comes to visiting girls, things have really changed.
33:33:20--Drivers go home more. Before they'd be away for up to six months.
33:40:13--They still go these days, but fearing AIDS, it's much less.
33:46:12--The times are still bad.
33:51:03--In Andhra it is terrible,
33:54:23--fifteen-year-old girls on the streets, from all kinds of backgrounds.
34:01:01--God knows what diseases they have.
34:17:24--It has become their profession.
34:21:23--They are not just walking the streets, they live there.
34:25:19--You can go into their homes.
34:29:02--If a girl is born into such a home, she’ll do the same,
34:32:03--if a bride comes she’ll do the same.
34:33:16--It is a business.
34:34:20--This is why a driver is a fool.
34:37:07--He sees a girl and is gone.
34:44:20--That is where they blow all their money.
34:47:14
Junior Driver
Once a truck had an accident in the forest, and the driver was lying on the ground.
34:52:04--Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati were walking there.
34:55:03--She asked him to help the poor mortal,
35:00:24--and Lord Shiva said,
“Forget it, they are the lowest of the low.
35:05:09--There are 36 castes in the world,
35:07:19--and they're the 37th."
35:10:18--But she said she wouldn’t walk with him until he helped.
35:15:13--So Shiva said, "Fine. Let's go."
35:18:05--So Shiva and Parvati both went over, and Shiva asked the driver to stand up.
35:23:02--Lord Shiva said, "Tell me what troubles you."
35:25:23--The driver, looking at Parvati, said,
35:27:09--“Mother-fuck my troubles,
35:30:04--tell me where you got such hot goods?
35:33:08--Where can I get some?”
35:37:07--"Forget about my troubles."
35:39:11--Then the goddess Parvati cursed the driver,
35:42:08--saying, "All your life you will wander around,
35:44:11--searching for goods."
35:46:06--So that is what we do.
35:47:18
Jai Singh
No spender like the driver.
35:50:15--If you're sensible,the money can be quite good.
35:54:04--You get at least 10,000 rupees a month.
35:56:11--But drivers spend automatically.
35:58:14--Any beggar on the road, any woman,
36:00:17--everyone comes to ask the driver for money.
36:04:02--So nothing is saved.
36:07:11--In your youth you get hooked on driving, you want to know,
36:13:04--and only after you’ve learned do you realize what it is, how bad it is.
36:18:12--Looking at another driver’s life it looks great, wow!
36:21:21--But it's a worthless occupation.
36:40:02--I have an intelligent son.
36:43:20--Once he finishes his studies,
36:45:21--I'm not going to do this anymore.
36:47:22-- Not at all.
Santosh Kumar
38:32:06--I haven't studied much, only till fifth grade.
38:34:22--I was never interested in school.
38:37:06--After fifth grade all I did was play with my friends.
38:43:11--I had no interest in field work.
38:49:17--Then there came a time when I ran away from my village to Mumbai.
38:55:13--In the nearby hills there was a holy man’s ashram, and I went there a lot.
39:05:18--I liked their attitude to life, their talks and philosophy.
39:11:18--When I joined the guru’s ashram, the direction of my life changed.
39:18:04--I didn’t go home for fifteen, sixteen years.
39:21:20--I would serve my guru in whatever way I could,
39:28:16-- like tending to cows, which I liked to do.
39:36:10--Finally, my family insisted I return to the village.
39:42:13--My mother said that as long as she was alive, I should live with her.
39:48:05--She spoke with my guru.
39:52:21--My guru told me to obey my mother's wishes.
39:57:07--He said, "Return to society and live as you choose. I forbid you nothing."
40:02:06--He set me free.
40:04:00--But since he gave me full freedom, I too had to honour that trust.
40:09:21--As with parents who let their children go,
40:12:17-- if the children don’t understand their teachings then they are lost.
40:17:15--My family always had great hopes for me, the youngest son.
40:24:19--But I said, "That is not my fate. If it were,
40:27:08--why did I meet my guru at such a young age and change the direction of my life?"
40:33:08--After my return, my family insisted that I get married, but I refused.
40:36:03--If I spent my youth serving my guru, what would I do getting married at this age?
40:41:10--Besides, I joined the ashram with six other guys,
40:44:11-- and when I rejoined society,
40:46:08--they asked me not to betray them, those I left behind in the other world.
40:50:05--They asked me not to forget them.
40:52:02--Once my guru told me to leave, how could I disobey?
40:56:07--But some day I want, I hope to return.
41:27:24--I simply did not like being back in the village.
41:31:01--My heart was not in it.
41:33:24--So I was visiting a friend once, when I thought,
41:39:23--“If I can drive a car, why not a truck?”
41:44:24--And this thought came to haunt me.
41:47:20--My family never wanted me to be a driver.
41:51:19--They said, "Why don't you stay home? There is no shortage of anything here."
41:55:18--But what can you do but be yourself?
41:57:18--I saw another driving, so I started, too.
41:59:23--And slowly, slowly, slowly I got lost in it.
42:03:10--As a trucker, my life has no guarantees.
42:08:05--How can I suppress my desires,
42:12:05--knowing that I could die at any moment?
42:17:09--If I don’t keep my mind free and happy, live for the moment,
42:22:01--then I can’t be a truck driver.
42:25:08--I’m from Uttar Pradesh, so I love bhang [Indian cannabis].
42:29:23--I do take it quite a bit.
42:32:24--It is healthy for you,
42:35:07-- there are no negative effects on your mind or thoughts.
42:40:00--The special thing about the high is,
42:42:14--whatever you focus your thoughts on when you take it,
42:45:18-- you get lost in those thoughts.
42:48:14--Like sadhus who take it to reach spiritual ecstasy.
42:55:06--When I take it while driving,
42:59:06--I focus my thoughts on a pleasant, uneventful journey,
43:05:08--where I hurt no one and reach my destination.
43:25:21--I'm especially fond of Benares.
43:29:09--I love the culture and atmosphere there.
43:33:13--It's also a treasure house of bhang.
43:37:23--If you have bhang there once,
43:40:04--you’ll always remember it and go back for more.
43:43:14--You get such a light, lovely high,
you can’t imagine.
44:00:01--She was a girl in my village, and we were betrothed.
44:05:12--But I ran away to the ashram.
44:09:12--She waited a long time for me.
44:15:12--She wrote to me that now that I had taken an odd turn in life,
44:20:01--she too might do something strange.
44:23:08--Love for her meant complete union,
44:28:20--losing and erasing oneself in another.
44:33:10--So I replied, "Look, now that I have embarked on this path,
44:37:17--you should support me, not pull me back.
44:41:01--If you truly love me, that is.
44:45:07--And if you try to commit suicide or do something strange,
44:48:17--it will only create a scandal."
44:52:19--Then she asked,
"When will you come home?"
44:55:01--I said, "I'll come back when I want, but I will come back."
44:57:15--So years later I went back, and she had gotten married to someone and had children.
45:02:10--Life changes.
45:04:22--And then I asked her, what about love?
45:07:08--So all this love shove is a matter of age.
45:12:24--It happens to everyone at a certain time and passes.
45:15:15--This life that I'm leading is fleeting,
45:20:05--but that other world is immortal.
45:24:12--I don't tell other truckers how I think,
45:28:08--because I think it best to immerse myself in this society.
45:31:06--Spiritual matters are private.
45:35:08--Now that I've committed myself to driving, there is no question of like or dislike.
45:42:16--There's no point in leaving things incomplete.
45:49:12--You're alive one day and gone the next.
45:55:17--Let me tell you something. This world is built on lies.
46:00:24--If I don't lie . . . in everything . . .
46:05:20-- I have to lie. If I tell the truth, no one will let me be.
46:10:12--The thing I enjoy most is to be left alone, with my thoughts,
46:16:15--so I can meditate and think of my guru.
46:20
Dharam Vir
So a lot of accidents happen not because they are drunk or untrained, but because they are over worked and exhausted. There are no norms regarding their working hours. There is no job security. They work. And if they fall ill, there is no social security.
46:32:24
Doctor
Twenty-five to thirty percent
of truck drivers
46:36:08--do catch up with STDs, one time or the other.
46:38:10--Way back in '96, '97, we did conduct a survey,
46:42:04--and at that time it was estimated that about seven to eight percent
46:45:22-- prevalence of HIV positives is there among truck drivers themselves.
46:49:11--The main objectives of our program are these:
46:51:23--to create a critical awareness about HIV, AIDS,
46:54:20--and also about sexually transmitted diseases;
46:57:06--promoting condoms as one of the most
46:59:04--potent preventive measures against HIV AIDS.
47:03:10--Homosexuality is prevalent among the truck drivers.
47:06:15
Ram Prakash
Sikhs do it a lot.
47:08:09--They don’t marry, and so they have to make do on the way.
47:13:11--They have a young apprentice,
47:15:20--and they spend lots of money on him, feed him well,
47:20:07--and then at night they grease him up and do their stuff.
47:26:14--The apprentice is desperate to learn the trade and so doesn’t say anything.
47:39:19
Kumkum Banerjee
Sex workers on the Nepal-India border and the Bangladesh-India border
47:45:11-- are non-brothel-based sex workers.
47:54:03--Brothel-based are easier to work with, I have worked with them too.
47:59:13--We can go and talk to them directly and frankly:
48:04:15--“You are a sex worker, these are the risks,
48:07:19--you should do this to protect yourself from AIDS.”
48:11:13--They accept this, too.
48:13:22--But in the border areas the women are community-based sex workers,
48:18:20--who have husbands and kids and do this out of dire poverty.
48:26:14--These women are ashamed to admit their work,
48:28:23--so for us it is very hard to educate them.
48:31:15--The Bangladesh border is a restricted border,
48:34:10--so each truck has to stop for seven or eight days before they cross.
48:39:09--So what can these drivers do for ten days?
48:42:02--I’m not saying that everyone does this,
48:44:22--but if they’re away from home for so long,
48:47:14--the men do seek out sex.
48:53:09
Rajendar
I used to drive from Kolkata to Madras.
48:57:21--Once driving on that route I got very tired,
49:06:11-- but I just had to reach Madras the next day and unload my goods.
49:11:11-- I saw a small dhaba, thought I would have some tea,
49:17:01--walk around, wake up and get some energy.
49:24:00--A man came up to me and said,
“Hey, you want to go?”
49:29:13--I didn’t know it was that kind of dhaba,
49:35:02--I said, “I just want tea.”
49:41:09--But I was young then so I went inside with him
49:44:14--and saw twelve beautiful girls,
49:47:12--each dressed in up-to-date fashion, with make up, powder, the works.
49:55:14--And their age?
Fifteen, sixteen years old.
49:59:09--He said, “Enjoy yourself.”
50:01:17--I asked, “How much?”
50:03:22--He said, “50 rupees.”
I said, “No, I’ll give 20.”
50:09:24--Then a girl came to me in a nearby room.
50:13:04--It was more like a shack with a bamboo partition.
50:21:02--And what had to happen, did.
50:24:22--Then I started to ask her her name, where she was from,
50:27:19--how she came into this business.
50:30:03--But there was a language problem.
50:32:12--Still I tried to tell her that this was not good work,
50:36:15--that she was so beautiful.
50:38:20--They were all lovely.
50:41:01--Those were different times.01:50:01:50:44:11--Then I caught an infection,
but got treated.
50:47:21--AIDS was not around then.
50:53:03--Soon I started to notice these condom-dispensing boxes along the highways.
50:59:11--Four for one rupee.
51:02:09
Santosh Kumar
I was driving alone when my cleaner said,
51:06:11--"Someone is asking for a lift."
51:10:00--I said sure, it being night.
51:12:10--He said it was a girl.
51:15:22--I wondered what a girl would be doing at this time of night.
51:19:10--Maybe she was from the neighboring village, I thought, and wanted to go to the city.
51:24:01--So I decided to give her a lift.
51:26:18--But she wouldn’t sit.
51:29:24--She wanted me to come down,she just wanted to talk to me.
51:35:11--She was dressed first class, like a school girl.
51:37:20--A hot school girl.
51:39:07--I was sleepy anyway. I thought this could be fun,
51:42:04--so I got off.
51:44:05--Then she said, "Come further."
51:46:20--But I stopped.
51:48:19--I was a little suspicious.
51:50:13--If she is a girl why is she teasing?
51:53:13--And if she wants a lift, why does she keep walking?
51:56:01--And why does she want me to keep following her?
51:58:18--So I stopped right there.
52:00:09--She kept asking me to come.
52:03:05--I said, "You come to me."
52:07:19--Suddenly she disappeared.
52:09:22--I went back to my truck and took off.
52: 11
Dharam Vir
A truck even if it becomes defunct or if it is in an accident is cannibalized for parts. If the truck tires are worn out, they are recycled onto a bullock cart’s wheels. If they are then worn out as a bullock cart’s wheels, they are sold to the footwear manufacturer who makes rudimentary footwear for the village folk. Like an animal’s carcass, a truck’s bone and parts are used to the end, till they disappear.
54:30:06
Santosh
Society says a lot of things about drivers.
54:33:21--What society thinks, its ways of understanding . . .
54:36:18--I have no use for them. I work in my own way.
54:40:14--People say a lot of things. Let them.
54:43:17--They only see me from their perspective. They don't recognize me.
54:48:00--They only see my external self.
54:50:22--What is good in me, what is bad in me . . .they can't know that.
54:54:05--They only project the good and bad in themselves on me.
54:58:14--By calling me bad, they think they are good.
55:03:15--Let them say what they will. Opinions don't make reality.
55: 05
Dharam Vir
We know that India is a developing country, a poor country. But I would say that a peasant in the Indian condition still has his own joys, his poetry and music, his home, even if it is a mud home. Whereas a truck driver’s life as distinct from what you would see in Europe or the West is drastically different. 6 million people, its almost the population of Norway, Sweden. Sweden is 8 million. It’s a large, large community and something ought to be done to bring some joy into their lives. And this would definitively change the perception of what a truck driver is also.