Koral Dasgupta on curating Come Home Papa, which has short stories by daughters of truck drivers

Author and founder of start-up www.tellmeyourstory.in, Koral Dasgupta is dedicated to bring up the stories of common people that disappear unless documented. “We had been doing this for a long time, but were less equipped in terms of resources to reach the grass-root,” she says. For their book Come Home Papa, they partnered with Mahindra Trucks and Buses. Koral recounts her experience of curating the book that has short stories on road safety by the scholarship-winning daughters of truck drivers...

How was the experience of curating this book? 

The stories we received were raw and required a lot of work. That is where the #TellMeYourStory community of authors came forward. From transcription to story-boarding to editing to judging, the entire responsibility was shared with deserving heads. Each and every person took up this work with great passion, because we all believed that this was hard-hitting content which will bring some positive changes. Before this project, truck drivers didn’t feature anywhere in our world. This project gave us a sneak peak in the lives of a totally different socio-economic sector and changed our perspectives forever. 

Was it easy for the girls to tell their stories? 

No, it wasn’t. Many of us working on the project exchanged notes discussing how we started crying halfway down the stories at times. These are stories of accidents, natural calamities, ill-treatment, unfair detention, robbery, over-loading, exploitation and more. Think of a daughter telling such real incidents involving their fathers. It must be unnerving. But you also realise that such issues are so very ‘normal’ in their lives. For them the challenge perhaps was to single out one for the purpose of the project!

Cover of the book

Any revelations?

Many. We are too prejudiced when we look at people from lower social and economic strata. So when you read the story submitted by the daughter of a truck driver, who is an aspiring IAS or pursuing MBBS, jaws drop wondering that a person of that level could drag such dreams till fulfillment. Didn’t we think that truck drivers (or the likes) are alcoholics, beat up wives and get depressed when a girl is born? India is a land of surprises where the extremes co-exist. Come Home Papa represents the power of women’s education where the girls have taken up the causes of their fathers. They are educated and understand the system and its loopholes. Some girls who are studying law intend to fight for truck drivers facing unfair charges; their stories share the legal implications. For me, personally, it was an immense learning experience as I got to experience another face of my own country.

What is the takeaway for the readers?

Truck drivers are the worst sufferers of road rage. Anything happens and before a question is asked, they are pulled out and thrashed. This project will disclose how complicated is the issue of road safety in India. One moment of negligence can be life altering, if not fatal. This is not just about the road conditions or irresponsible driving. It is about an entire system. When a driver is mandated to deliver a consignment within an absurd deadline, what is he expected to do? Not take up the work or try his best to do the job so he earns his daily wage? This will engage the readers with the road safety issue as every person at his level gets irresponsible on the roads, either out of desperation or with sheer over-confidence. Come Home Papa is a project that drives this thought, along with the daughters pleading to a larger society to treat their fathers with dignity.