Occupation: Autorickshaw driver
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I am on my way to Thampanoor for lunch, I haven’t had a bite since morning as I have been on rides. Late lunch is not a problem for me. For the last two years, I have been working as an autorickshaw driver. This is my own vehicle, bought on a loan.
A cousin of mine taught me to drive an autorickshaw. Thanks to him, I can make ends meet. After I gave my daughter, Jayakumari, all that I had, my cousin insisted that I learn something to earn a living. So, at night, after he finished his work, he taught me to drive on the roads in Shangumugham. Since then I have managed to earn enough to look after myself and pay off my loans as well. My cousin is no more but no words can express my gratitude to him.
When I started a new life as a woman autorickshaw driver, I used to go at 3 a.m. and hang outside the airport. Initially, the drivers there used to resent my presence and tried to intimidate me and drive me away. But when they learnt that I was also struggling to eke out an existence, many of them relented. But it took time. The same scene was replayed at Thampanoor as well. I have never been physically harassed. Nevertheless, at times, the verbal assault was worse than physical abuse and I used to sit in my vehicle and shed tears. I did not give up because I did not have an alternative.
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However, I must tell you that till today, no policeman has ever harassed me in any way. In fact, they used to go out of their way to help me get rides. Their moral support helped me overcome the odds. Similarly, I was lucky in the case of my passengers as well. I am courteous to all of them and so they have also treated me well. No arguments or fighting for rates. On the contrary, many of them tip me a little extra. Sometimes, when senior citizens find it difficult to tender the exact change, I don’t insist on them paying me the exact amount on the meter. Moreover, I am a grandmother three times over. So, even when I come across an unruly or rude passenger, I tell them to take it easy and see me as an elder in their family.
Usually, I start early and lunch is pothi choru that I buy from somewhere. I don’t feel like cooking for me alone. Till about three months ago, I was earning about Rs. 800 per day. Since demonetisation, like everyone else, I faced difficulties as well. My earnings did dip a little but it is much better now.
I have had a tough life but I have been able to take it and keep moving forward. Growing up as a fatherless girl in Cheriyathura was not an easy existence. After my father’s death, my mother struggled to bring up her three children, sometimes going without food herself. She would go to wedding venues and collect the leftover food to feed her children. Thanks to her, I have a healthy body. I am 57 now and for the last so many years have been earning a livelihood by doing backbreaking work.
As my mother could not afford to send me to school, a well-wisher of our family managed to get me admission to a well-known convent in the city. There were a few girls like me. We were taken in to help the well-heeled girls in the boarding... do their washing and cleaning. Now, all that has been stopped. But teaching us was the last thing on their mind. I could not complete my schooling.
And before I was out of my teens, I was married off to Jeyanand in the military. He was a good man and we had two children. But he died just three-four years after my marriage. Since then, the going has been uphill. My son, Victor, was taken away by his father’s people. He grew up with them and he and I are not in touch. Kindly relatives took me to Dubai, ostensibly to work as a domestic help but I worked in a shop and even managed to open my own shop. I returned to get my daughter married and after that she needed help with her children.
Now, her children are all grown up and I have been discarded. I feel bitter at times, but then that is life. At least I am healthy enough to live life on my own terms. I am thankful for those blessings!
(A weekly column on men and women who make Thiruvananthapuram what it is)