Here, you can fill up tanks and munch snacks

Thiruvananthapuram: Long drives in the sun in a non-air conditioned vehicle can be an exhausting experience. This is what auto-taxi drivers, truckers and bus drivers face during their daily grind. The only pit stops in between is to pick up, drop off and to fill up the vehicles at fuel stations. What if you are offered a cup of steaming tea and a crispy vada while staff fills up the tank?
That is what the customers, who visit Hare Krishna Fuels at Kanjirampara, experience these days.Suresh Kumar, managing director of the petrol pump, started the practice a few weeks ago.
On a drive back home last summer, an idea to provide buttermilk to tired drivers popped in his mind. Soon, Hare Krishna Fuels began serving free buttermilk to around 300 people on a daily basis. The initiative, which began in March 2018, was a huge hit. With the onset of monsoon, demand for buttermilk went down.
But, Suresh wanted to continue the initiative. By July, tea and snacks substituted butter milk at the fuel station.
“We began the programme ‘Refresh @ Indian Oil’ eight months ago and have two staffs who are assigned to exclusively take care of the one hour snack breaks during mornings and evenings. We provide tea and snacks from 10:30am to 11:30am and from 4:30pm to 5:30pm,” said Suresh Kumar.
R Soman, a plumber from Nettayam, said that such an initiative is a rare gesture. “It is very relaxing to get a refreshment break here after a hard day’s work. I hope other fuel stations can pick up on the idea and offer at least drinking water to customers,” he said.
PTP Nagar resident and auto driver Vijayan Nair said, “We barely get time to stop for a tea break on most days and so such an initiative is very helpful,” he said.
Buoyed by the success of the snack idea, Suresh Kumar decided to launch a free weekly health check-up camp at the petrol pump. From next Sunday onwards, there will be medical camp at the pump where free check-up of blood pressure, cholesterol and weight will be offered.