Priya Adhyaru-Majithia meets some brave young women laari-vali, rickshaw-vali and bike-vali who have created their cosy space defying invisible yet invincible rules of Indian patriarchy
In spite of the feminist movement, the gender equations have remained unevenly unequal till the date. However, there are few occupationally atypical women who have ably charted out their own niche space. Let us celebrate their ‘pioneer’ status in male-dominated fields as they represent the possibility of breaking through the barrier of laid down by invisible yet invincible rules of Indian patriarchy.
“Since last decade, I am the only woman who stands on footpath and cooks,” said Laarivali Sevaparvathi, a south Indian home maker who has been silently and yet noticeably running a small south Indian food joint opposite IIM-A. She doesn’t sit for a moment. She cooks and serves south Indian delicacies including dosas, idlis and uttapa and also collects the used utensils left at her laari by visitors. “We daily come with about 10 to 15 kg of batter and close the business as the batter finishes,” she said.
Seva manages laari from 8 am to 3 pm and then leaves for household chores handing over the winding up to her husband. “Initially I felt very conscious to cook standing on the footpath but then with support of my husband and frequenting visitors I felt confident,” she said while admitting that still she is looked at as a woman doing something unusual by new visitors who happen to glance at her for the first time. The young students from nearby colleges, busy professionals wanting to grab their breakfast – there is a long queue of visitors waiting for their pending order at her laari. Unaware of her victory over social dogmas, she is busy seen cooking at her roadside laari and her cooking talents dominate over the male visitors who are busy licking their fingers.
Similarly, meet an auto-rickshaw-vali Sunita Chaudhary – the first Indian female rickshaw driver – a brain behind the Red Rickshaw Revolution – who is to visit Ahmedabad to celebrate International Women’s Day.
The Red Rickshaw Revolution (www.redrickshaw.in) is a unique initiative by the Vodafone Foundation to celebrate the achievements of ordinary women doing extraordinary things across India to raise money for three NGO’s which are working to empower women. From raising awareness about India’s unsung female protagonists to raising funds, the Red Rickshaw Revolution will see three committed women, Laura Turkington, the director of the Vodafone Foundation in India, Carina Deegan, Foundation support and Sunita, traverse a distance of over 1500 kms from New Delhi to Mumbai in a red auto-rickshaw in 9 days. Departing from New Delhi on the March 9, these three women in their red rickshaw will travel through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, arriving in Mumbai on March 18. The red rickshaw will pass through cities like Alwar, Jaipur, Ajmer, Rajsamand, Shamlaji, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Daman and Mumbai. Their journey will be shown on-line. Their revolutionary journey is to reinforce the message that ‘I am proud to be a woman and something I definitely don’t take for granted.’
While one runs a laari and the other drives auto-rickshaw and leads a revolutionary movement, there is a 25-year-old bike girl who has forayed into driving world’s heaviest bike and manages the biggest bike show room in the city Aditi Shishoo, marketing manager of Nine Bridges Harley-Davidson. “I loved bikes since I was a child and the fascination only grew with age,” said Shishoo who led the city ride on Thursday along with three female bikers from city to celebrate the occasion of celebrating the spirit of womanhood. “I love ride bike as it is explicit way to break the notion that bikes are for men. I ride bike as it makes me feel pure sense of freedom and pride,” she said.
