A drive down the breezy 25 km Beach Road from Visakhapatnam to Bheemunipatnam, with the ancient red sand dunes of Erramatti Dibbalu on one side and the blue waters of the sea on the other, can be very pleasant — until a vehicle suffers a flat tyre. There are no shops nearby to fix the puncture.
But a traveller who encounters the man in white, Duppamapudi Nageswara Rao, passing by can consider his problem solved.
Anjali Srinivas is one such motorist. She enjoys the drive but one day, found herself stranded. “My tyre was punctured at a lonely spot and it was getting dark. I was not carrying a spare wheel and did not have the tools. Many cars sped past. My only option was to call my family but my husband was a 40-minute drive away. I was scared. Suddenly, this good Samaritan stopped his car a few paces away. He introduced himself as DNR and got down to fixing the puncture without further ado. He had the necessary tools and a puncture kit in the boot of his car. He finished the task in 15 minutes and said goodbye.”
Ms. Srinivas is among the many people DNR has helped in diverse ways across the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh in the last 20 years. Some years ago, when a short circuit set off a fire in a shopping complex in Visakhapatnam, DNR sprinted to his car, pulled out a mini-extinguisher and doused the flames even before the fire services could respond. He has put out about half a dozen such small fires with his handy extinguisher.
Mr. Rao stocks equipment to deal with 30 or 40 potential crises in his car. “If anyone needs a sewing kit to sew a button, I have it ready,” he says earnestly.
Relief on-the-go
Pragmatic and resourceful, DNR has changed car batteries with a 10-metre extension cord he keeps handy; provided medicines to travellers suffering from fever, diarrhoea or nausea; offered chocolates, biscuits or fruit juice to diabetic commuters; and supplied bed rolls and raincoats to riders of two-wheelers.
A fast bowler who once represented his University, he even keeps a cricket kit handy. “Whenever I see poor children playing without a proper kit, I lend my kit to them for a couple of hours and also play with them. I carry a football and volleyball, and stationery too. But my basic idea is to help people in distress on the road,” he says.
Mr. Rao, who is 60 years old and lives in Visakhapatnam, joined a friend’s cement and steel business after he took early retirement from the Cement Corporation of India. “The new job required a lot of touring across the State, and I love long drives. One day, in 1977, I was stuck with a punctured tyre near Kadiyam village in the East Godavari district. It was a bad experience for me and from then on, I decided to carry a full puncture kit. Now, I have a modern hydraulic set to deal with the problem,” he said.
Road warrior
The doughty good Samaritan recounts, “I slowly added things like wax and seal, a laptop, car and mobile battery chargers, and Wi-Fi, which I offer free to anyone. It initially began as a [response to a] need and turned into a hobby. Now, it is my passion.”
It is Mr. Rao’s love for the open road that brings him into contact with people in need of help. If in trouble, look out for the man driving a white car, and clad in white clothes.
