From biking to taxi driving, Indian women steering their lives as they find joy on wheels

By Shivangi Singh
New Delhi [India], March 7 : Living in narrow alleys of New Delhi's cramped Trilokpuri area, 23-year-old Damini Kumari, who is a taxi driver, has become a harbinger of change for many with her spunk and love for the unorthodox as she navigates through lanes of the Indian capital.
Damini, trained by non-profit Azad Foundation based in Delhi, is busting gender norms as she is one of the few women taxi drivers seen on the roads of the national capital.
Many people, she said, are startled to see her driving a commercial vehicle. Typically, driving is profession dominated by men in the country.
"The only support I have is that I am in control of the steering. So, no one can do anything wrong or harm me," Damini said about the risks that come with her job.

Crimes have prompted small firms across several states in the country to launch taxi services run by women, however, the numbers remain small. The trend grew after the December 2012 protests over the rape of a young woman on a moving bus in the capital, New Delhi, and her subsequent death.
Like Damini, Delhi-based Shahjahan Ali Naaz, affectionately known as 'Naaz' in her neighbourhood, is also bending stereotypes as she rides her bike, usually clad in a hijab.

The 29-year-old said her parents supported her to pursue her dream of riding a bike, considered a symbol of machismo in a deeply patriarchal society.
She inevitably turns several heads in her Muslim-dominated locality as she leaves her house, mounts her 220 cc bike and rides away.
"My bike is my life and I often feel that I can survive without food if I get to ride my bike," she said.
While the bikes provide women with an alternative to using public transport, safety issues abound on India's notoriously dangerous roads. And few would risk riding alone at night.
"Some boys get jealous seeing a woman ride a bike and they try and overtake or honk unnecessarily so that the woman rider loses balance and falls and they make fun of them. However, some boys support women bikers and say 'Wow! All girls should learn to ride a bike.' They get inspired by us and say 'I will teach my sister to ride a bike,'" Naaz said.
Despite the risks, the women riders say they want to enthuse others to take it up.
"We should choose a unique profession so that people get inspired from us. When people see me they do not believe that I am a commercial (taxi) driver. This is a big achievement for me that people look up to me, encourage me, and respect my job," said Damini
"I do feel scared at times (while driving with passengers), even with women, as sometimes you get very rude passengers. However, the only support I have is that I am in control of the steering. So, no one can do anything wrong or harm me," she said.