Our Drivers in Banglaland

Some drivers are more attentive than others…. That is a general observation that I’ve made….. I’ve come across quite a few in my short lifetime…. From the drivers assigned to my dad during his time with the Ministry of Health and now with the International Medical University…. I must say that all of them, with the exception of one, were quite hopeless….. To them, their sole purpose is to drive the car, and nothing else…..

Then there are the drivers who work for my relatives in Bangkok…. Now these fellas were good, they were attentive to your needs, they would never allow you to carry anything, they’ll open doors for you….. You feel assured whenever they drive you….

So it was to my surprise that the Bangladeshi drivers assigned to us are also very helpful, and even on par with the Thai drivers employed by my relatives in Bangkok…. And they are amazingly good drivers, after all, we are delivered safely to our destinations in one piece!!!
I was driven by someone called Rauf for my first trip out to the villages, who is a small man, who reminds me of a mouse, but possesses a huge voice, especially when he gets excited….. There’s also Mirren, who is built like a tank ….. He can easily get a job as a bouncer in a night club in KL, such are his imposing looks, we always feel safe and secure knowing that he’s there…. But I rate Jahangir as the best of the lot who took me out for my second trip, as he is perceptive as he is attentive….. As he had also driven me during my first visit to Bangladesh in January, I was already quite comfortable having him around.....

Jahangir, sitting on the railing, alongside Alum, one of our Bangladeshi auditors

Jahangir is the type who would watch you, identify what your habits are and remember them…. He will also watch you to see what type of food you like and how much food you usually take at a time….. he’ll make sure you have everything you need, from the the use of multiplugs as the source of power for our laptops, to our working room, tea time(s), the menu of our meals, etc….. And he doesn’t litter like your typical Bangladeshi either!!! I find him quite extraordinary, as a driver who would take so much initiative to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible for the people under his care…. And not to forget the fact that he’s a fantastic driver, with an impressive knowledge of all the village branches in Bangladesh, we have never ever gotten lost finding our way to any of the branches…. Which cannot be said for Rauf, who needed a couple of days before remembering where our Regional Office was :)