Daring to drive: How Mumbai’s female rickshaw drivers are beating the odds

Every morning, Alka Jadhav, an exuberant Bandra-based female autorickshaw driver wears her white coat and sets out to take passengers from Bandra East railway station to their destination from 9 am to 8 pm. She has been doing it for the last four years ever since she laid hands on the orange-coloured three-wheeler specially designated for women drivers in January 2018 . "In the mornings, I travel to BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) to drop the passengers and in the evening, I drive around from Guru Nanak Hospital," says the 33-year-old, who talks to us during her late lunch break. Jadhav believes in independence. It is something that she has firmly stood for ever since she got married in 2005 at a very young age.

Jadhav has donned many hats over the years. Driving the autorickshaw in the western suburb is only her latest one. She is one of the few female rickshaw drivers in Bandra East and in fact has been a catalyst for the other three-wheeler drivers in the neighbourhood too. Initially, the attempt started with more women filling the forms from the local mahila mandal (local women group) but they eventually dropped out due to different challenges, she says, and now Jadhav remains among the few who continue to drive around.

The city's black-and-yellow autorickshaws are one of its many transport lifelines but they are driven by men. There are several women who are sprinkled in this mix, however, who have been braving the odds of testosterone-fuelled bonhomie and fights in the business, to carve a niche for themselves. Ahead of International Women's Day, two women drivers spoke to Mid-day online about their journey and need for independence.

While some passengers question them about their ability to find a place among the men and match their step, there are others who are happy to find women at the steering handle. Luckily, Jadhav isn't one to hesitate in giving it back to those who doubt her ability, and more often than not she says, it is the reply that leaves them in awe. She says, "When people say ‘Oh, you're a lady, don't you feel weird?'", I simply tell them that I am earning for myself and feeding my family, and not stealing anything."

When Alka Jadhav started driving the autorickshaw, she was only encouraged by her sister-in-law, her mother and husband were hesitant after she had an accident while practising but that didn't stop her from driving it. Photo Courtesy: Alka Jadhav

Striving for independence
Jadhav lives in a joint family of six people and isn't particularly strapped for resources but is driving the autorickshaw solely because of the feeling of independence and the extra money it provides her. As a personal target, she aims to earn Rs 1,000 per day and has been successful at it. However, her driving didn't start easy as she was met with challenges. She explains, "At first, my family reacted badly and only my sister-in-law supported me. My mother-in-law was scared about how I would drive among so many people, especially after an accident I had initially when I was practicing."

The family tried to stop her. "My husband said there's no need to drive now that you are sitting with an injured leg. Are you done having fun, he asked me, but I told them, I will not sit back and instead drive as soon as my leg is okay," she adds. After that, driving was simply to avoid the taunts that would follow about her initiative to do something on her own with a minor hurdle. As soon as she started standing in the autorickshaw line, Jadhav immediately received the support of her peers. Now, fellow drivers not only give her the first number but also fill petrol for her.

While she earns a steady income, it is also the fact she is her own boss that excites her. She is able to take a holiday when she is bored, or take a lunch break, along with a fixed Sunday holiday. It also makes her teenage children happy and they even tell people about how she drives the autorickshaw. Incidentally, Jadhav has always been independent and never backed down from trying something new. The Kherwadi-based driver, who has a 10th std education, says she started out by working in a call centre, making parts using the soldering machine, and even worked in a tailoring shop, when she was unable to do other things while she was pregnant. She also briefly ran a tiffin service before driving the autorickshaw.

It is this very zest for life and independence that made Jadhav encourage more women to drive the autorickshaw. Tejashree Sawant in Bandra East happens to be one of them. Even the latter has done quite a few jobs including working as a government employee and a typist before driving the three-wheeler. The two may be twenty years apart but are the best of friends now, four years after Sawant got her rickshaw. The 52-year-old admits that it is quite a difficulty to drive the vehicle in the eastern side of the suburb but took it up as a challenge even after she met with an accident while practicing in her initial days. She fondly remembers, "My first passenger was my husband himself and he has always supported me. In my initial days, I used to practice by taking him and my two daughters on the empty roads of BKC, after I was trained."

For her, it has not only been about the money but also about taking the passenger from one place to another. The independence it provides also excites her, just like Jadhav. "I still remember the first time I had to take passengers from Guru Nanak hospital, I was so scared and my hands were shivering," says Sawant. However, when her passengers reacted positively to her, it gave her the confidence to take them to their destination. "One passenger even told me that if you learn to drive in Bandra East, you can drive anywhere," laughs Sawant, when asked about the different kinds of experiences she has had.

Sawant is currently supporting her family with the money she earns from driving the rickshaw, after her husband lost his job at a printing press during the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, she even taught him to drive the rickshaw, so when she isn't driving, her husband is driving around Bandra. Even though she wants to enjoy her retired life, Sawant says driving the autorickshaw is a fun activity for her. "My daughters feel such pride and say that their mother drives a rickshaw and that makes me very happy," she beams. However, Sawant says the women rickshaw drivers face one challenge as of now and that is servicing their autorickshaws. While they were told it wouldn't be a problem initially, due to a difference in the brand compared to their male peers, they have to specially go to a workshop in Mulund to get it done. This hasn't been feasible and became an issue during the pandemic. She says life would be much easier if that would be sorted for them.

Over the years, Tejashree Sawant has done many jobs including working as a government employee and typist before she started driving the autorickshaw in 2018 at 48. Photo Courtesy: Tejashree Sawant

More women, please
Even as women face many different kinds of challenges, Sawant, who has been working on her confidence to drive the rickshaw every single day even four years later, says they shouldn't hold back. She explains, "Women should go out of the house and work like men. In the past, women were told to stay at home but it is up to us as a society to change our thinking and let women enter any field." Jadhav isn't far behind as she feels women should definitely be independent and earn for themselves. If they stay at home, the 33-year-old says they will end up sitting inside only and never see the outside world.

Giving examples of women in positions of power like Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Ahilyabai Holkar and Jijabai who have made it big, Sawant adds that once women go out of the house, they will get exposure and learn to fight against the world and that will inspire the children in the future. "Women should do whatever they can outside and that would help them experience new things and see reality," adds Sawant, who says she teaches her daughters to fight for what they want, every day.

Life may have tested these women in various ways but they have believed in themselves every single day and hope they can inspire other women to go out there and be more independent too.