Independent India turns 75 this year and no celebration would be complete without honouring the women whose work and passion take the nation to greater heights every day. This series is News18’s salute to the women who have broken barriers to elevate India economically, socially, and politically.
In this edition, we meet Mumbai’s first woman bus driver Laxmi Jadhav and conductor Pooja who navigate stereotypes every day. In another part of the Maximum City, we raise a toast to Gujjuben who has established a food empire at 77.
From an auto-rickshaw to a bus, it’s been quite a ride for Laxmi Jadhav. The 41-year-old is the first woman to drive a BEST bus since the public transport system came up in Bombay/Mumbai in 1926. But the journey has not been easy. When Laxmi decided to sit behind the wheel, many scorned her.
“They told me ladies cannot drive such a big vehicle. I told them I am a woman, I can drive and do anything,” Laxmi tells News18.
But the ultimate confidence booster were women passengers who walked up to Laxmi and praised her breakthrough in a male-dominated role. “It made me feel good and gave me confidence. Driving a bus is not so different from driving an auto. The only difference lies in managing the curve which I have mastered.”
Lokesh Chandra, BEST General Manager, said the biggest motivation in hiring a woman driver was to make the women passengers feel safe. Speaking to News18, Chandra said: “Approximately 26% of the passengers on a BEST bus are women. We thought that if women can enter every field, why not drive a bus too. We thought back to the Nirbhaya (gang-rape and murder) incident in Delhi, where things would have been different had a woman been the driver. We wanted to make women feel safe. We hope to increase the number of women drivers soon and train more women.”
Laxmi’s partner in breaking that glass ceiling is Pooja, a bus conductor. “At times, when I go to collect tickets, they refuse and ask me why have you come. Some are very rude and when they fight, I give it back to them as well and insist they buy tickets from me. When women see us, they often come and support us,” Pooja tells News18.
Both Laxmi and Pooja realise the weight of expectations on their shoulders, especially when riding together. Any mistake, however small, is not easily forgiven and is extended to misrepresent all women. “They say women cannot even drive cars, so why drive a bus,” says Laxmi.
Laxmi’s first ride of the day is through Dharavi to south Mumbai, a packed stretch frequented by male passengers. She starts her second shift back home where she has to manage the household and look after two sons.
“They knew I was training and wondered whether I would be able to drive. But now they are proud of me. In fact, they wanted me to visit their school and show their friends how to drive a bus.”
The Grit of Gujjuben
On the third floor of the Prarthana building at Charni Road in Mumbai, an old man sits outside a room where a studio is being built. There are lights, chairs, a green video wall and a camera. “I am building this studio for my wife Urmila,” he tells News18.
Urmila is more famous as ‘Gujjuben’ whose ‘Gujjuben Ka Nashta’ is a successful venture now selling popular Gujarati snacks online and from a small store. Its monthly turnover is more than Rs 8 lakh.
Urmila’s story is one of grit toughened by tragedy. The 77-year-old lost her two-year-old daughter and later lost two sons due to ailments. But it was her grandson Harsh’s accident in 2019 that shook her.
Harsh had sunk into depression after he lost his lower lip. “Had I given up, who would have looked after the house and Harsh?”
So Urmila aka Gujjuben determinedly tucked in the pallu of her cotton sari and began to do the only thing she knew, making fafdaa and thepla.
Her ventured prospered during the Covid-19 lockdown and those working from home ordered in and gorged on her delicious Gujarati snacks. “My grandson Harsh and I began to work on this. We had a few orders initially but then sales eventually picked up. Harsh has good business sense. It was his idea to launch an Instagram account and I would put up pictures there. Harsh is my photographer. He then decided that we should go on YouTube. I am very comfortable now in front of the camera,” Gujjuben tells News18.
The TEDx speaker is now building her own studio. “I wake up at 5am, prepare all the snacks myself and then it’s my grandson who ensures that it goes to the people who order. I also have a small kitchen and store where I sell snacks.”
The Gujjuben magic has caught on and she has shared the stage with big names in the food industry. She still has two desires to fulfil. One is to visit the United States. Her grandson says she loves to travel alone. Urmilaben has travelled to London to cook for Gujarati families and stay with them.
“She just packs her bag and goes off alone. She went to Lonavala alone or just goes for a day’s trip to parts of Mumbai,” says Harsh.
Her second desire is to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offer him fafdaa.
“I love to laugh and smile. My grandson and I are very different from each other but we are business partners. I have only one complaint. He wants to shift to a better and bigger place. But I can’t leave this chawl. This is where I started from and this is where my journey will end.”
But never say never, says Gujjuben with a smile and she leaves to apply for her visa to the US.
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