When 42-year-old Yogita Satav, a housewife from Wagholi area of Pune, took charge of the steering wheel of a 20-seater mini-bus for the first time in her life, she had her job cut out for her.

She not only had to ensure the safety of the nervous passengers, but also had to take the bus driver, who had suddenly fallen unconscious, to the hospital quickly. Rising to the challenge, Yogita, a mother of two children, drove the bus for nearly 25 km over potholed roads.

The passengers reached home while the driver got timely medical treatment, which saved his life.

The incident took place on January 7 when the 20 passengers from Wagholi had gone for a picnic to Morachi Chincholi. After spending the day at the picnic spot, the group started their return journey after 5 pm. After covering some distance, the bus driver suddenly complained of uneasiness.

“He said he was feeling dizzy and couldn’t see anything and was speaking incoherently. He was driving the bus in an erratic manner and so everyone in the bus started screaming. Some women were actually crying. I was seated just behind the driver. I went up to him and asked what was wrong. He barely managed to tell me that he was feeling unwell. I told him that I will steer the bus if he had a problem driving it,” said Yogita.

She said in the midst of their conversation, the driver collapsed. A few women came up and moved the driver to another seat. Yogita told the other passengers that she would take the steering wheel as she knew how to drive a car.

“I have the experience of driving a car, but I had never steered a bus or any heavy vehicle in my life. Car gears are smooth, bus gears are hard. As I started the vehicle, I struggled to put it in the first gear. The moment I put the vehicle in the first gear, it moved into the reverse direction. This happened thrice. Then, instead of pushing the gear to the left side as is done in cars, I pulled it to the right side. The vehicle moved ahead. Then I realised ‘bus ka system is ulta’ (bus gears work differently),” she said.

Once the bus was on the road, Yogita said she had no problem navigating over the potholed stretches. “There was hardly any traffic on the road. I drove the bus like I steer my car, by remaining in control of the vehicle and not trying to overspeed or overtake,” she said.

News Source- Indian Express