Let alone in reality, even on celluloid, it's been tough to sketch out a female truck driver character. From cultural to social, the barriers are far too many and even imagination does not align with a woman behind the wheels, on the roads, driving for days at a stretch, fixing wheels, cooking by the roadside, spending the night in the vehicles.
Yogita Raghuvanshi, India's first lady truck driver from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh has not been breaking stereotypes, she's been challenging the imagination of Indians now. For the past fifteen years, this single mother of two has traveled every nook and corner of the country in her truck. Alongside, shattering the notion of truckers, which has essentially been a male domain.
A qualified lawyer and a lady trucker
But why, is the question she has often found herself facing. A qualified lawyer, she chose the tougher way out, leading a life practically spent on the highways. "If I had opted to be a junior to some lawyer, not only would I have got pittance for the many initial years. But I learnt that driving trucks meant instant wages and stability," she said in an interview to Her Story.
When the going got tough, she got tougher
Her children Yashika and Yashwin were very young when she decided to take up the profession. After her lawyer-husband died in a road accident in 2003, then 33-year-old Raghuvanshi had to fend for her little ones. They had employed a driver but were making losses because of that. Raghuvanshi decided to take the matters, in this case the steering wheel, in her hands but her first battle began at home, as she had to first fight her family to do this.
Part of the package
Yogita says when she started out, navigation apps didn't exist and finding the right roads and highways was a bit of a problem. Not the only problem though. Wagging tongues and leering men at the dhabas and otherwise were all a part of the package. Till date people don't believe she drives trucks for a living. A believer, a doer and not the one to consider what are people saying, today she inspires one and all with her story. She has also been a part of Shell India's Great Things Happen When You Move campaign. Today she also owns Rajhans Transport Company.
Netizens give a huge round of applause
Respect, inspiration and awe, she commands all. Along with a lot of questions and queries on how does it work out. But it does.
