Women behind the wheel

In 2013, it was just a distant dream for 25-year-old Savita, when inspired by by TV show Satyamev Jayate, she decided to become a chauffeur. Now three years down the line, the domestic violence survivor has beaten all odds to become the first female cab driver in Delhi.

"I saw the episode on Shanno Begum in 2012 and was very inspired," says the Bihar native, who later did more research on Shanno's life and found out that she was trained by Delhi-based NGO Azad Foundation. Savita then herself approached the NGO in 2013 and now works as a professional chauffeur with Sakha Consulting Wings, a placement agency that provides employment to women drivers.

"It wasn't easy for me to convince my mother, a housewife. She used to think that it was mardon wala kaam (men's job)," she says. Savita somehow convinced her mother and enrolled with the NGO for training.

After training for six months, it took her another six months to convince her parents and start working. "I was told not to do this job. My father, a labourer in a factory, said he allowed me to attend the training but working as a driver was different. I fought a long battle with my parents before I started working," she says.

And Savita is not alone. In fact, hundreds of women have trained with the NGO under their programme 'Women on Wheels'.

Kiran, 30, also works as a private chauffeur and her journey wasn't a bed of roses either. Abandoned by her husband in 2011, she had been living with her parents in north Delhi's Jahangirpuri area. Before joining Azad Foundation, she used to work as a domestic help.

"When I started training, a lot of people ridiculed me, saying I could never be a driver. They even harassed my mother, asking why she was allowing me to do this," Kiran says.

When asked if she is noticing any positive changes in herself after joining the NGO, she says: "Earlier, I was shy. Now I can talk to people. I go out and visit places. Being a driver gives a different sense of pride."

Now she dreams of buying a plot and making a home for her mother.

The Azad Foundation started the 'Women on Wheels' programme in 2008. "It was so difficult to mobilise women back then," says NGO Director Meenu Vadera. "We started this programme to empower disadvantaged women, so that they could live their life with dignity. It gives a sense of liberation to them," she says, adding that the NGO has trained as many as 700 women so far, out of whom more than 400 are working as professional drivers across the nation.

In an attempt to raise funds for the cause, the foundation is organising musical theatre show 'Mamma Mia' at the Sri Ram Centre of Performing Arts on December 8.