“FOR ME, IT OPENED A DIFFERENT WORLD”
Initially, Shari MS dreaded the taunts and cat calls but she now feels she is doing a job like any other. A college dropout who started driving a taxi a year-and-a-half years ago, Shari makes about `15,000 a month, after paying her car loan of `10,700. Driving has always been a passion and she got her driving licence at the age of 21. And so, once the Kerala government introduced She Taxis, she was ready to take the wheel. “It opened a different world for me. Besides economic stability it gives us the opportunity to interact with different people. I really feel I am empowered,” says Shari, who has a six-year-old daughter. Though some members of her family were unhappy with her choice of work, her husband, an electrician, stood by her. She loves to go for longdistance drives and doesn’t mind night duty either. Foreign passengers are her favourite. “They are well mannered and we learn a lot from them,” she says. “Once you take up the challenge you have to face it. Every job has an element of risk. We have been trained to avoid messy situations,” she says. The She Taxi control room tracks all taxies fitted with GPS and crosschecks details of passengers before accepting bookings. It also arranges safe stays for women drivers for the night. RAMESH BABU