Eve's Eve

Date: 11th July 2008
Time: 5 pm-ish
Venue: IISc Gate (Now do not ask me which one!:))
There were reports of some communal tension in the city and in the wake of such events it is always advisable to just get home. I had too many things on my mind...quota of work to do over the weekend, the research papers to be reviewed and synthesized, the question of how the aamjanta is affected by these communal events which does more harm to the mankind than imaginable, the weight of my lap top bag with the extra books dumped in it...and wondering if the tension on my side of town had worsened?...
Don't even remember how long i waited and how many autos refused to come to the place i live in!! Then there was this auto with the similar khakhi garb i saw from a few feet away...the auto came near and i realised that there was a special child sitting peeche. The auto driver stopped and said,"Madam! yell hogbeko?" ( Madam! where do u want to go?) I said, "Sahakarnagar". The auto driver hoped that i didn't mind having the brother as my co-passenger. Well! Iwas just glad to get my mode of transport to get home and hopped in.
This was a special ride in more ways than one... It is not everyday that you are desperate to get an auto home, not everyday that you have company in the passenger seat and definitely not everyday that you have a Lady Autodriver!! This was my first time being driven by a lady Autodriver! Vaguely remember reading an article on lady busdrivers, lady conductors and all. Now, is this a big issue! yes! if you see it as how gender rules have been bended as a career choice...no! when you believe that this had to happen some day. Anyways, let me complete this interesting ride story...
I asked her how many of her kind in the city and she said, " Full Bangalore city alli, naane wabru lady driver. Tumba bhari vehicle madam; yellarinda aagalla". I smiled and instantly our conversation got a new breath of air...like some unexplainable bond had been formed! To say I admired her would be an understatement...I wanted to make the most of this 30mins on hand...
Talking to a dozen comes easy to me...and I had so many questions and she always the answers...
She is Ratna, been driving for three years now. Spoke about the challenges of driving on the ring road when it is filled with trucks, how she gets stared at by men and women! was well versed with the city roads and said she often drove late into the night also.
The 30 minutes went by really quick...throughout the conversation, her brother just kept looking at us. I alighted and told her I want a pic of hers! Was I glad that my cell phone had the camera facility, nevermind that it was a very basic one! It was a boon at that moment.
It was a momentous click! and her brother finally spoke. I asked him his name, he was Anup and said he studied at Aruna Chetan, Malleshwaram! I wished her luck and said want to write about her...is that okie?! Felt I needed the permission, which she granted .Ratna drove back all smiles and I stood there near my house gate with more questions?
For all those movements which propagate emancipation of women, all those bills that claim to make women more empowered, all those laws which break the glass ceiling, all those reservations to make the gender barrier evincible...Ratna is the real story!
Women like Ratna, who may not even be aware of these movements, bills and laws...and yet who have successfully conquered them. This was her moment.
My Ode to Eve's Eve! Thank you Ratna for being the inspiration You are!