Kashi woman e-rickshaw driver driving life by dint of grit
VARANASI: Kanchan Jaiswal, perhaps the first woman e-rickshaw driver of Varanasi, started driving an e-rickshaw in July this year. She was forced to do so after her small general store, the only source of livelihood, closed during the lockdown.
A resident of Jaipura area, Jaiswal has a son and an elderly mother to look after. She said that she had never thought of driving an e-rickshaw but circumstances forced her to take up the job.
“My little savings exhausted within three months of my shop closing. Thereafter, I started looking for alternative options to make an earning,” she said.
It occurred to her that she could drive an e-rickshaw and she hired an e-rickshaw and began driving. Initially, she was a bit hesitant, but with the passage of time her heswitation disappeared and she drives the e-rickshaw confidently now.
“I look after my elderly mother and 11-year-old son. In the morning, I do household work and cook food. Only after completing household work, do I drive e-rickshaw from noon to 8pm daily,” she said.
She said that she earns enough to meet her daily expenses. With her savings, she recently bought a second-hand e-rickshaw and drives it.
Asked if she underwent training to drive the e-rickshaw, she said that she knew how to drive a Scooty and learned to drive an e-rickshaw on her own.
In this male-dominated profession doesn’t she face problems? “No,” pat came the reply.
She said that she focuses on her work and doesn’t pay attention to who says what.
“I keep in mind only one thing that I have to look after my mother and my son,” she says. In the meantime, passengers come and get into her e-rickshaw and she leaves for Maidagini from Pandeypur area.