Driving equality in India
Surekha Yadav was the
first female passenger train driver on Mumbai's Central Railways and has
become a standard-bearer for women in a male-dominated industry
In her canary-yellow sari and gold earrings, with a pair of
thin-framed spectacles perched on her nose, Surekha Yadav could be any
woman stepping down from the train at Mumbai's main railway station.
But the 44-year-old mother-of-two stands out from the crowds on the
platforms at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) as she doesn't just
travel on the trains - she drives them.
Indian train driver Surekha Yadav posing at Chhatrapati Shivaji
Terminus (CST) in Mumbai. Yadav was the first female passenger
train driver on Mumbai’s Central Railways and has become a
standard-bearer for women in a traditionally male-dominated
industry. AFP |
Yadav was the first female passenger train driver on Mumbai's Central
Railways and has become a standard-bearer for women in a traditionally
male-dominated industry.
Since she first jumped into the cab of Mumbai's packed commuter
trains 10 years ago - attracting curious looks from commuters - one
other "motorwoman" now plies the same suburban route. Two are assistant
drivers.
There are also women train drivers on the Western Railway network,
ferrying many of the six million people who use the city's overstretched
network every day.
Yadav, who admitted having no interest in trains before applying for
a job as an assistant goods train driver in 1989, said she has had
nothing but support from her male colleagues.
"They encouraged, helped and took care of me," she said, adding she
had taken special training to become the first woman driver of a "ghat
loco", the two-engined passenger trains that climb the hills of western
Maharashtra State.
"Because I was the only woman, they were curious whether I could do
it or not," she said.
Women like Yadav can be found throughout Indian history, from warrior
queens like Rani Lakshmibai and members of the independence movement to
the first - and so far, only - female prime minister, Indira Gandhi.
Prathiba Patil, the President, is the first woman to hold the post,
the lower house of parliament has its first female speaker in Mira
Kumar, while women are well-represented at many of India's largest
companies.
But although India's constitution "guarantees to all Indian women
equality", differences between the sexes still exist, particularly in
rural areas, in terms of access to education, health care and even food.
Just over a third of Indian women aged 15 to 49 said they had
experienced domestic violence, according to a 2007 National Family
Health Survey.
Overall violence against women increased by nearly 25 percent between
2003 and 2007, the latest available Government statistics show. The
highest rises - over 30 percent - were recorded for kidnap, abduction
and torture.
Madhu Purnima Kishwar, of New Delhi's Centre for the Study of
Developing Societies and founder of leading rights group Manushi
Sangathan, said that in the workplace gender was no bar to success -
provided women were strong.
"In India, women who demonstrate that they are stronger than men
usually find men falling at their feet," she said, linking it to the
worship of Hindu goddesses and the importance of mothers in Indian
society. Apart from being India's first "motorwoman", Yadav has also
been part of the attempt to curb another problem: complaints about
sexual harassment - or "eve-teasing" as it is known in India.
AFP |