Brothers of Buses | The Linguist Deori Daa | Season 01, Episode 04

Dear readers, welcome to the fourth episode of Brothers of Buses. The series – Brothers of Buses – is dedicated to the staff members of buses that ply on the roads of Assam and beyond and live through thousands of journeys and millions of stories. This is Their story!

To be frank, the concept of “Botaahe Botaahe”, which refers to sailing along where the wind blows, a carefree spirit of travel/journeying through life has come from these buses.

Today's episode is dedicated to Rup Kowar Deori, or as he is for me, linguist Deori Daa who is fluent in over 10 languages.

Deori Daa during his gig with Chartered

Hailing from Sorbhog, he has a kid and wife as family.

Presently driving the Tigra coach of Neelkanth Transport, he has been on the roads since 2000. He started his career in an oil bowser in Bongaigaon. After that he drove an Ultra bus before driving on the Kolkata Siliguri route. He has been a part of buses like John Travels, Sima Scania, Poulami Paribahan and Slumber 37 among others before joining Neelkanth.

How a Linguist?

Once while travelling with him from Duliajan, I overheard him talking with a passenger in fluent Nepali. On the same journey, I heard him talk on the phone in Kamtapuri. On enquiry, I found out that not only he speaks Assamese, Hindi and English, he is fluent in Bengali, Punjabi, Sylheti, Bodo, Adivasi, Nagamese and Bhojpuri. And trust me when I say this, he really is. "I also speak a bit of Haryanvi and Odia but not as fluent. I am out of practice now" he says. "Wherever I go for work or travel, I become a part of the place through the native language and trust me, it feels so good" he adds. In that moment, I realized that for him, language is far more than a means of communication. It is a bridge that connects two individuals on a more intimate level. I have seen him interact with passengers; trust me when I say that he is a great PR professional in his own rights.

When asked about what he loves the most about driving a bus, he says it is the night travel which gives him peace. "For me, driving is next to godliness. We are for the public. We don't drive, we transfer people with responsibility" he says.

"We meet different passengers on a daily basis. Some really good people and some a little bad. Sometimes it hurts when someone calls us Oi Driver rudely. Of course, we are drivers and we are proud of it. But we also love to have a relation with our passengers and when someone calls us Dada or Bhaiti, we feel elated. A little Thank You or Ahisu Dei/Bhalkoi Jaba is very impactful

, but some are bringing a bad name, public service plus occupation we are for public. I mean when we hear a word of affection after a long night's drive, our fatigue disappears to a great extent" he adds. He also adds that bus owners of Assam are a mixed lot, just like the passengers.

Should fate one day lead you to meet Deori Daa on the roads someday, Botaahe Botaahe, do greet him in your native language; I am confident that he will reply in the same tongue.