We had a date with some auto drivers. All of them, women. We were expecting to see a dozen of them zip in, one after another in their autos, with their pallus and dupattas peeping out from their over-sized khaki coats.
The winds were beginning to get stormy, and the Marina sands were getting damp. Just as we got up to leave, we saw them — the women in over-sized khaki coats.
But our eyes were still searching, for more of their kind. A few phone calls later we realised that only Kalaiarasi, Rukmani and Jaya were there to tell us their stories — stories about their destinies and chance encounters.
Jaya tells us how it all began.
The inspiration
“Earlier, I used to work as a maid. Then, I met a person from Speed Trust, who told us that we should be financially independent. His organisation teaches a lot of women like us to drive autos. It's been four years now,” says Jaya, evidently satisfied with the choice she has made.
While Jaya and Rukmani went through this organisation, Kalaiarasi was inspired to get into this unconventional profession, because of them. With the money they make from driving autos, the three of them provide for their families — food, education and other household necessities.
They hardly talk like women working their way up in a man's world.
Ask them about discrimination, and they are quick to brush it off. “We think the city needs to treat its auto drivers, both men and women, with more respect. For instance, traffic policemen look at us with contempt, and we are not allowed to park outside most big shops and malls,” says Rukmani, who believes that parking spaces should be allotted for autos as well. “Sometimes, men try to overtake our autos because we are women, but that hardly bothers us,” says Kalaiarasi.
Does being a woman auto driver have a downside? “We were more cautious when we started driving. We were wary of the kind of people who got into the auto, especially drunken men, but now, we drive till 9 p.m. just like the men,” says Jaya. “In fact, some people pay us more than what we ask for, because we are women,” she adds.
Give a choice, would they have chosen another profession? Says Rukmani, “Though I was pushed to working because of circumstances at home, I now love my job, and the independence it gives me.”
(Speed Trust is at 245, S.M. Nagar, Pallavan Salai, Chennai-2,. Ph: 044-6543 4228)
