Barely a few decades ago, women were hardly supposed to drive their own vehicles in public places. But time has changed. Women today are doing almost every work men can do. Time is bridging the gap between the two genders. Now women have come far ahead of all those pasts, they are now ready to face all challenges thrown at them.
This is the story of a female auto-rickshaw driver in Bhopal. She came to the limelight when Chief Minister of the state, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, went for a ride on her rickshaw. She was covered by almost all state-level media channels and newspapers. Her story is indeed inspiring and it should be read by us all.
Her name is Talat Jahan. She recently became Bhopal’s first female Auto-rickshaw driver. Most of the people from her locality gave her an odd look, when they saw her drive the auto on roads. People murmured to each other- how a woman could become a driver. But she never paid heed to their opinions, rather she stayed focused on her work.
30 year-old Talat is a survivor of dowry abused and domestic violence. Her drunk husband kicked her out of his home in the wake of fights and vocal slugfest. She lived with her parents at their home for almost four years. She never liked being a burden on them and hence she wanted to be monetarily independent. An NGO gave her hopes when they invited her for free training of auto-driving. She learnt all tactics and obtained the driving license as well.
However, it is not The End of the story. Sitting in the driver’s seat and driving an auto, have always raised the eyebrows of her family members. Her brother is still upset about her being a rickshaw driver.
“When I enrolled for the training, my parents were not happy with the idea but I wanted to do something by myself. I wanted to be financially independent. Also, I am concerned by the rise in crimes against women and wanted to do my bit for women safety. Today, when I drove the auto for the first time from to the CM’s house, I was on cloud nine,” said a thrilled Talat Jahan.
