A daily wage driver’s last 20 km teach us more about leadership than any title can
Shivaji Mohinta, Bhubaneswar, 31 October 2026
Most of us know the courage shown by Capt Smit Machchhar, who saved the lives of 174 people aboard the flydubai flight when he was attacked by his co-pilot. What many of us do not know is what happened on October 8, around 9.30 in the morning, on the national highway between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam.
A Kakinada depot non-stop express bus is cruising along with around 40 passengers on board. Nobody is thinking about the man at the wheel. Why would they? Bus drivers are meant to do their duty. We notice them only when something goes wrong.
Something did go wrong. As the bus passed near Tuni, the driver, Jatla Siva, felt a sudden pain in his chest. He was 34. A daily wage driver from Kathipudi village in Kakinada district.
At that moment every human instinct says: stop anywhere, save yourself.
Siva did something else. He did not stop on a busy stretch and risk a pile up. He held on to the wheel and kept driving for nearly 20 km, in pain, looking for a safe place. By the time the bus reached Nakkapalli in Anakapalli district, the pain had become unbearable. He steered the bus to the roadside near a bank, brought it to a safe halt and applied the brake. Only then did he collapse over the steering.
A passenger gave him CPR. He was rushed to the Community Health Centre at Nakkapalli. Doctors declared him dead.
Every passenger on that bus reached home that day. Siva did not.
The next day, APSRTC Chairman Konakalla Narayana Rao paid tribute to his courage and sense of responsibility and promised the corporation would stand by his family. Even Minister Nara Lokesh honoured him on X. But I believe the story deserves more than a tribute. It deserves a wider audience.
Siva had no fancy designation. Not even a permanent job. He was a daily wage driver. No visiting card. Yet in his final 20 km, he displayed more true leadership than many of us show in an entire career. Siva was probably never told what he should do when struck by such excruciating pain. He simply demonstrated what selflessness is all about.
There is an old saying: a crisis does not build character, it reveals it. When the moment came, his reflexes simply followed his values. There was no Leader tag printed anywhere, yet he led by putting his passengers first. Siva led by example that day, on a journey that could otherwise have been fatal.
His story also carries a quiet warning. Frontline workers often carry stress, long shifts and health concerns silently. Irregular meals, little rest and long hours in heat, dust and traffic take their toll. Regular health check- ups for drivers, operators and field staff are not a cost. They are the most basic form of respect. Take care of those who take care of others.
Like Capt Machchhar, Siva showed us that true character is what you do with your last ounce of strength when your own life is on the edge.
He could not reach home to his own family. But he made sure 40 others were “parked’ safely that day. That is leadership. No title required.
