I told a friend who sat in the back seat of my car while I drove, "Come and sit in front, don't make me your driver."
Driving in India is a nightmare. You are one among the numerous autos, buses, lorries, cycles, scooters, bikes and pedestrians, all jostling to get ahead at any cost. Your skills of driving are not at test. It’s more a test of intuition, foresight, astrology and fate. I don’t believe in any of this but India makes me think twice. The people who face the music everyday are the ones behind the wheel. The two-wheelers are all driven by people who want to make the commute and the difficulty faced directly impacts the individual.
As far as cars are concerned, we have a special occupational community: the driver/chauffeur. He is trained to provide the very service that we find very hard to accomplish especially in the Indian environment. In fact, his role is more relevant in countries like India.
In this context, for a long time I have wondered about one thing. As I look out of my car window, I find the seat next to the driver empty. Owners sit in the back and direct the driver. The driver is a professional delivering a service and there needs to be a professional relationship. But I wonder whether this habit reveals a deep-rooted social segregation within. This is an act that we seldom think about. The drivers themselves may not even feel hurt as they believe that this is how it should be. There is no doubt that these class separations existed even when people travelled in horse-driven carts.
Most of us who can afford a driver definitely belong to the creamy layer of society and the drivers are from lower income groups. Therefore, this is also a function of socially accepted hierarchies. We send out some very important messages by sitting behind. I am the owner, the person driving me is not related to me in anyway, and I pay the person to do this job.
I wonder whether there is also a fear that can be associated with this behaviour. How safe am I if I sit next to this person? How much of this safety issue is also related to the social background of the driver? A lot, I would think. We perceive people from poor neighbourhoods as being unsafe, uncultured and maybe even violent. Keeping a distance is important for our safety, we think. These are age-old perceptions that we perpetuate even today. In fact, we don’t even think of what lies behind our action.
The situation is a little more complicated if the person in the passenger’s seat is a woman. Most drivers are men and therefore women rarely sit next to them. But the same lady would sit next to a person she has just met at a party. Where are we actually safer? Sometimes the driver may have been in the house for over a decade, yet the woman will not sit next to him. Is this because it violates a professional border? Is there an unstated line that needs to exist, a separation that places everyone where they belong?
Fear of the person, fear of the relationship, fear that ‘I could be taken advantage of’ and a fear of what the onlooker would think. Probably, a combination of all. But it is also true that physical proximity is not something Indians are comfortable with. There is a lot of suspicion about the man next to us in a movie theatre. The man himself is often uncomfortable with a woman next to him.
Sometimes, when the boss drives with the driver, he will be asked to move to the back seat. This signifies a great discomfort in our having the driver next to us. Ironically, our children travel with the drivers all alone to school, they pick up our kids from friend’s houses at night, and probably even helped us after a party when we could not walk. So what stops us from sharing the space with them? The same young girls and boys who went to school with the drivers seated next to them would move to the back seat once they were adults. The irony is that most people who work at home for a long period of time become part of the family; they are more protective about us. Therefore, this behaviour seems to come from a greater insecurity about ourselves.
Our position in the car definitely establishes power. The CEOs of companies, bureaucrats and, of course, politicians can be seen driving in the morning, reading the paper, may be with a coat hung on the side in the back seat. Authority, power displayed overtly. An onlooker on the bike will actually turn and look at the car, hoping for a similar day for himself. The similar day importantly includes the driver in the front seat. A never ending cycle of social inequalities.
Many of us talk about social empowerment and equality but this simple act establishes exactly that we won’t change. Our position in society and our status are reiterated by such social practices. The most revealing moment for me was when recently I told a friend who sat in the back seat of my car while I drove, “Come and sit in front, don’t make me your driver.”
(The writer is a Carnatic musician and his email is tm.krishna@gmail.com)
Keywords: traffic regulation, driver, social issue
Ritvik,
The sentence you pointed out does make little sense. However, based on this one sentence or this one piece, you make the same mistate you accuse Krishna of making - a generalisation based on a random sample.
I completely disagree with the 'theory' you quote. This way, only articulate people should have a say. I believe everyone with an opinion has the right to write, or more specifically - express.
Thank you sir for your well-written article.People these hardly realise or better say recognise such type of uncommon actions.People these days always will to show off their richness and highness with utmost pride and superiority.For this they ,make their working people the a good set of instruments.They try to be superior in the area in which they not really are.and it's most undigesting to see inheriting such such ideas to their children with tender brains possessing no evils.It's not how rich you look that makes respectable in a society,the way a royal person treats his lower working people and servants makes him really respectable and dignified.
Class difference between a driver and owner!! One of big drawbacks of this is drivers make a living out of it instead of using it as a means to move up the ladder. How many of the drivers have used their free time to get educated or learn a new skill to switch their career. It is disheartening to see the drivers at young age( 25 years) to play cards with other drivers. The same for porters in the stations, news paper delivery boys... Those who have worked hard have been owners now. Why did not we create oppotunities for many to go higher or discourage them or penalize them to stay the same!!
Well, this is a common practice worldwide and it is not always true that owner sits on back seat everytime. It doesn't even prove the inequality in society worldwide forget about India.
I am pleased to see an article written on this. For many this may
sound insignificant or may say "that's the way things are done". A few
readers have rightly pointed out disadvantages such as distracting the
driver. But get to think of it. These are small changes that can make
a huge change. If you are in the front seat, you know the driver's
situation before saying "Take this left" or "Take that right turn".
When a CEO gets onto the production line, we make headlines out of it
and say "Wow". Why don't we sit in the front seat once in a while and
say "Wow. I did something nice". I have done this and seen that my
driver appreciates the gesture.
something different. with the rapid increase in the number of cars on the road and status stigma attached thereto most people hire a driver.with a spurt in opportunity in this field many youngsters obtain a license.they are not trained in ettiquette.it is necessity to earn and for the owner to pamper his/her ego.
this protocol system will only mess up things like the practice of drinks that we ape the west.surely with our system of madi or theetu this will not work for us.and people around like to be spiteful adopting a different standard for different people.and the crop of new generation drivers are not confirmed non smokers/non drinkers.
TM Krishna is a good Carnatic musician. But as a pop sociologist making sweeping generalisations about society based on some random everyday observations, he is sub-par. His prose is also very pedestrian and convoluted. What does this sentence even mean: "The two-wheelers are all driven by people who want to make the commute and the difficulty faced directly impacts the individual"? This article validates the theory that people should stick to their area of competence. When Krishna delineates the Sahana raga, I can listen to him all day. But when he strays away from his "circle of competence" and writes schoolboy essays like this, he lets himself down.
This has nothing to do with Indian mentality only.This is just a practice worldwide.I have seen in my company,when I was riding with one of our colleague,some of us had to sit backside,he felt uncomfortable because of the same feeling.Except for the own driving,the owners generally sit in the back seat for their privacy and comfort.This should not be considered as an inequality.
"Dignity of labour" is not in our ethos for sure.
The drivers cannot afford scents!
Is it perhaps safer at the back than in front in case of accident?
Is there also the convenience of less visibility at the back?
I, for one, would always prefer to sit next to the driver not only in a car, but also in a bus, ( I used to look for a seat close to the driver whenever I boarded a bus)as I like to view the emerging scene.
Being a senior engineering officer I was visiting a remote site to review the progress.While returning, my car broke down and it was so arranged that a nearby VIP would drive me back, in his car, to my head quarters.But there was a hitch,which seemed insurmountable.As his driver was not available,the VIP himself would be behind the wheel but needed somebody to accompany him while comming back after dropping me.None of the available persons were willing to sit in the car with him,he being their master.Finally the journey was made with me and the VIP sitting in the front and one of his men squatting and squeezing himself in the leg room floor of the back seat right behind the front seat thus blissfully avoiding sitting in the vicinity of his master!
But for the risks involved,we would be witnessing a number of standing drivers.
men squated and squeesed himself in the legroom of back seat right behind the front seat, thus,happyly avoiding sitting in the vicinity of his respected one!
There is also an unsaid rule in the seating locations in the car,
especially practised by many in corporates. The senior sits on the
back seat, most of the time on the left side. If his sub-ordinate
travels with him, he sits to his right.If a team of 3 goes, the Junior
most invariably sits in the front, next to driver.I have seen this
unsaid rule followed religiously by well educated and top honchos of
many large and popular organisations in India. At times, it is also
seen as a mark of disrespect if this order is mixed up.
We need to travel a lot to bring in changes to stop this inequalities.
Many people do not have the courtesy to come and sit in the front seat
and they have to be told. When I was in Tanzania, I was pleasantly
surprised to see that even the President of Tanzania sitting next to the
driver. The driver is also treated as a co- worker. Even in Taxis, I
prefer to sit in the front seat as I get more leg room.
Very interesting observation by the author. I always sit in the passenger seat at the back when my driver is at the wheel. This is more out of habit than any consideration of social inequality. I just wonder, would the drivers not find it uncomfortable if the owner sits next to him? Again, at the back seat, we could indulge in reading the newspaper, listening to music or talking to someone who comes along, etc. All these might divert the driver's attention. Sitting at the back, I often caution the driver not to race whenever he shoots the car at over 120 kmph or when he changes lanes too often from one end to the other to get ahead, as it could endanger many. Of course, the driver is supremely confident of himself.
Cant beleive this is an article, this has nothing to do with india or culture worldwide drivers sit
in the front ,passengers sit in back, this is convineant also, i dont understand what the author
is expecting people to do
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