Meet Shinder Kaur: The only woman autorickshaw driver of Bathinda

Shinder Kaur of Bathinda challenging the conservative mentality of the society drives an auto-rikshaw wearing a turban.

Life dealt a raw deal to Shinder Kaur, a resident of Bathinda, who has borne the pain of losing three of her four children, besides suffering abuse at the hands of an alcoholic husband, whom she dared to divorce, but the feisty woman refused to buckle under it. Instead, she decided to look the challenges in the eye and show the world the mettle she is made of. 

The lack of education and decent employment has not deterred Shinder Kaur, of Bathinda, from living life on her own terms. The woman worked with masons at construction sites and at eateries to earn a living, for over a decade, but things apparently did not work out so well for her there, which made her venture into an altogether different and completely male-dominated field of auto-rickshaw driving.

Initially hindered by the lack of funds, she managed to procure an auto rickshaw with the help of a lady benefactor from Canada. What sets Shinder Kaur apart from her normal counterparts is the fact that she is the only lady auto rickshaw driver sporting a turban, in Bathinda. She is a victim of the prevailing social mindset against women that often prevents women from attaining financial freedom and establishing their self-esteem. 

“No other woman in Bathinda drives an auto. I am the only woman here, who drives one. Therefore, initially I used to get less customers. So, I thought, ‘let’s try wearing a turban, maybe because of this I’ll get more patrons’,” she said.

However, wearing a turban has not helped much in resolving her troubles. “While I am often subjected to speculations about my gender by most lady commuters, who do not know that I am a woman, because of the turban that I wear, my own family members are not very comfortable with the idea of sporting a turban and often chide me for causing embarrassment to them. But I feel that this is not an embarrassment,” she maintains.

Shinder Kaur is still to be accepted as a member of the predominantly-male auto rickshaw drivers’ union, as is evident from the fact that she is not allowed to pick commuters from some of the places where the auto rickshaw drivers assemble daily. “No one allows me to pick commuters from the stand as they have a union there. Neither am I allowed to stand at the Bus Stand nor at the railway station,” she avers.

But that hasn’t hindered her from continuing with her trade. “I pick up the commuters that I find along the way and drop them off at the Bus Stand or back from the Bus Stand,” she adds. However, she has come to be accepted by a majority of women of Bathinda, who not only appreciate her drive and initiative but also prefer riding with her. Her mobile number is inscribed on the wall of the driver’s section of her auto-rickshaw.  

“Now the women of Bathinda are quite supportive of me. If any of them wants to go somewhere, they just ring me up and I go and offer my services to them,” Shinder Kaur added. “Most women of Bathinda salute me and my work. Still, others are unhappy with me,” she says.

An inspiration to the destitute women, Shinder Kaur urges them to work hard to earn a living. Yet, despite her initiative, her own troubles are far from over. “I barely earn to win my daily bread and butter because the lockdown turned everything topsy turvy. The commuters do not pay us much. I am barely managing to survive,” she says. 

Stating that she had taken a loan on interest, she called upon the government to help her out. She also urged the government to create employment opportunities for women to help them stand on their own feet.