[SS-Traveller]

Rupam Dutta, a driver of overnight intercity express buses - known in common parlance in Assam as 'night super' buses - has shot to fame with his debut book, which tells of his stories on the road. His 488-page book in Assamese, titled Life Of A Driver—Cabinor Ipare recorded the highest sale among the 200-plus books at the Guwahati Book Fair this month.

The book chronicles Dutta’s life as a night super driver, traversing the length and breadth of Assam, from Tinsukia to Digboi, Guwahati, Jorhat, Itanagar and Duliajan, in a sleeper bus for over 15 years. Dutta, who comes from a family of educationists and began driving when he set up a small travel agency, first started sharing his experiences of driving across the state in 2019, as posts on the group Asomiya Facebook. Noting the overwhelming response, publisher Anil Baruah of Asomiya Bhasha Aru Software and Bikash Kendra suggested he consolidate the tales into a book.

“I have driven a night super from 2002-18, quitting due to health reasons. Only we drivers know the kind of risks present on certain routes. While the travellers sleep, we have to stay vigilant. But on social media, one often sees posts maligning drivers and that hurts me. In my career, I have never been drunk while driving or not alert on the job,” says Dutta, 44, a resident of Tinsukia who now runs a restaurant, Manimuni, there.

Link to news article

For the teenaged me, driving long distances through the night at the wheel of a bus was a kind of dream. Sure, a part of that dream has been fulfilled through my overnight trips in my own car, but I would certainly love to buy & read the book if it is available as a translation.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing! Moving thread to the CV forum. After reading your post, I went to the Kindle Store to buy any English version, but alas, the book isn't available in digital form yet. Hope they fix this soon.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

His 488-page book in Assamese, titled Life Of A Driver—Cabinor Ipare recorded the highest sale among the 200-plus books at the Guwahati Book Fair this month.

Considering that number, translating Assamese to Bengali should be a cakewalk.
Hope to see this happening soon (and of course with English version too).

[ABHI_1512]

This book actually brings back memories of childhood which I spent residing in Naharlagun (one half of the twin capital city of Itanagar) in Arunachal Pradesh. The night super buses were the lifeline across whole of north east once till railways came along.

The buses connected almost all the north east capitals and towns to Guwahati- the gateway to the north east. Bus companies like Blue Hill Travels, Network travels, Green Valley Travels were name to reckon whenever someone landed in Guwahati and needed to go beyond the city.

The writer comes from a family of academicians and it’s commendable that he has been able to chronicle the journey’s in the form of a book. The night super journey’s were an event in itself during the late eighties and early nineties when the ULFA movement was at it’s peak.

The book though is written from the time when these events were thing of the past. Nevertheless, anecdotes from the bus journey’s would be an interesting read. Having being part of many such bus journey’s over the years, from the exact route as discussed in the book, I can certainly relate to whatever the writer intends to say.

[condor]

A driver's perspective, especially with such experience will be interesting to read.

* * *

I have done many a night journey. Mid-90's I was working in Bombay. Since parents were in Bangalore it was a bit far for regular trips. So I used to head to my uncle's place near Akkalkot, in Solapur dist which was an overnighter. Get into a bus at 9 at Kurla, and home for morning tea.

So on one such trip, as usual, left office and went to the bus station. No reservation, so go early and get into the red bus. First row was I used to manage, right behind the driver. Used to stay up quite a bit observing how they drive. And honestly, that's how I learnt how to maneuver through traffic, over-taking in un-divided roads, ghats etc. There was discipline back then.

Sometime after about 1 am, there is one truck coming in the opp dir. And another trying to overtake it. Our driver flashed his lights, but that guy kept coming. Fortunately, a last minute braking by both resulted in both coming to a stop at the last milli-second. There was about 3-4 inches of gap between the left front corner of our bus and the left door of the truck's cabin. Our co-driver was so angry that he took out the jack rod (used to change tyres), reached out thru the window and had a swing at the truck's cabin.

* * *

These guys face and manage a lot of risk. Hats off to them. Hope we get this book in English.

[airbus]

This book has been a blockbuster success and reprinted ninth time in a period of just 15 days. Being in Bengaluru I have not received a copy yet, however have read some portions online.

I am originally from upper Assam and have experiences of taking both day and night buses to Guwahati. With inadequate railway service, these buses serve as a lifeline for many.

[airbus]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

translating Assamese to Bengali should be a cakewalk.

Yes, the book is being translated to Bengali - Facebook update.



Facebook translated to English as given below.