Sir,

This is with reference to the article ‘Of the joy and sorrow of travelling’ by Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem in his column Over a Cup of Evening Tea (SOM dated May 31).

Dr. Javeed writes to say that he loves driving so much so that even if he travels by a bus he feels like driving the bus him- self. This is indeed true !

Exactly forty-one years ago when he was my student at the M.R. Medical College, Gulbarga, he happened to accompany me and my wife, Dr. Jayashree when we went on a pilgrimage to the Srisailam temple which is nestled in the heart of a picturesque wildlife sanctuary.

We travelled from Hyderabad by an Andhra Pradesh State Transport bus and half-way up the steep and winding ghat road the bus overheated and stopped with a dry radiator.

The elderly driver informed us that the bus would not go any further and that we would have to wait for the next bus which would be coming only after several hours. All the passengers were naturally aghast.

Dr. Javeed was of the opinion that the bus was overheating more due to a wrong driving technique on the steep road than to a faulty cooling system. He spoke to the driver who would not agree, insisting that there was some technical problem. I knew about Dr Javeed’s driving and repairing skills and therefore asked him to try driving the bus himself.

Dr. Javeed got water for the bus engine, cooled it and took off after convincing the driver and passengers too that he possessed a licence to drive buses and trucks too ! No doubt, with him at the wheel we reached Srisailam much faster and safer much to our relief and joy !

Our Eid Mubarak to Dr. Javeed and his family !

– Dr. Dewapriya Galagali, Yadavagiri, 4.6.2019

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