The Driver

Not the actual driver

Last week, we had to fire the driver. Before you start in on how cruel I am firing my entire household staff (cause that is a phrase one uses all the time), you must understand the circumstances behind the decision. To understand to full picture, I need to explain two things: the position and the individual driver.

The position of corporate driver used to be very common in India. The archaic traffic laws and the propensity for no one to follow them make driving in Indian not only frustrating, but downright dangerous. As well, for most of the past, private vehicle ownership was cost prohibitive and most people drove bikes or scooters. This necessitated the need for companies to buy cars and hire drivers to ferry its VIPs to important VIP things. As the Indian economy has blossomed, many people have purchased private cars and although this has actually made driving in India more dangerous, corporations are forgoing the full time driver and hiring contract drivers to be available when needed.

There is a significant difference between the level of a contract driver and a full-time, corporate driver. When you are contract driver, you do not get medical benefits, retirement fund, and the high salary of the corporate driver. You are, in essence, a glorified taxi driver. So, needless to say, the position of the corporate driver remains the Holy Grail of driving jobs in India. Most of the remaining corporate drivers are older, have impeccable manners and are extremely contentious in how they conduct themselves. My driver was none of these things.

Munna, my driver was a contract driver before being hired a year and a half ago. There were two executives in the office at that time and the higher ranking of the two has the driver who had been with the company for 15 years. The other hired a new driver, my driver. After a few months, one of the executives was transferred to Bangalore and we now had two drivers for one person. It was decided to let the older driver go, as technically his position was eliminated. Soon, though, the other executive departed and this left the driver with no one to drive.

I arrived in June and inherited the driver. Munna was younger than most corporate drivers, about 25, and had been brought into the organization as more of a personal driver, than a corporate driver. This meant that he and his charge kept matters unto themselves and there was very little interaction for the driver with the rules of the corporation. Upon my arrival, we had to reorient Munna to the fact that he was a corporate employee and that he would be managed as such. This did not necessarily sit well with the youngling's independent spirit. Now the driver's logs were checked on a regular basis and the expenditures were audited. I will not say more about this other than, I guess he was not expected this level of accountability. In the end, he needed to leave us.

So last Wednesday, Kailash, came back to the company. Kailash was the driver we let go last year and we welcomed him to continue his long tradition of driving Managing Directors (I will be his 5th). He is in his late 50s and has proven to be everything the other driver was not. He is prompt, well groomed, courteous and very well mannered. He barely says a word and is happy to show anyone his meticulously maintained books. He is, for all intense and purpose, the classic Indian driver.

Slowly, but surely, we are getting our staff in order!