'Life of a Driver - CabinorIpare',?a memoir filled with the heartful emotions of being a?night driver from Assam, has?become one of the bestsellers at the 33rd Guwahati Book Fair.?
Written by Rupam Dutta, a driver himself, the book chronicles Dutta's life as a bus driver in the state of Assam and lay bare the emotions that he has gone through on the journey. Till now around 1,500 copies of this book have been sold at the book fair, The Sentinel reported.?
The memoir written in simple Assamese language by Rupam Dutta recorded one of the highest sales among 200-plus books that were launched at the event.
In 488 pages, the memoir traces his life on the roads in the past 15 years, taking trips from Tinsukia, Digboi, Jorhat, Guwahati, Duliajan, and other parts of Assam. He has even taken his ride out of the state to Itanagar and other towns.??
Dutta told the Sentinel he started?working on the book in 2019, when he?was preparing to send some of his?scribbles?to a social media group, When the readers were inspired by his writings, he decided to write it like a book.
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He told the local newspaper,?"Most of the people don't want to respect drivers who too have feelings. Drivers know how to take risk, and the basis of this work (book) is the risk factor which drivers take. "I started writing this book in September 2019 since when I was sending the story in piecemeal to a social media group which I've been attached to. The readers' response inspired me to giving the shape of this book."?
In the memoir, Dutta has also highlighted some interesting experiences he has had with passengers.
"We drivers make sure to take all the precautions and can only hope that the driver coming from the opposite direction will take those too. We operate on faith." He further pointed out how there's never a 'safety net' for a driver's family, in case the former loses his life," he told Live Mint.
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Dutta took admission in Guwahati Commerce College, and then got admitted to JE (junior engineering) in electric department. But due to lack of higher qualification, he ended up doing part-time jobs before becoming a full-time driver.
He started working on the book, which is written in simple Assamese language, after resigning from his driving job.
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