It’s a strange world we live in. After the unfortunate rape of a BPO employee in Dhaula Kuan, there has been a slew of debates on the safety of women in Delhi. That’s why I silently applauded when I heard about Sakha Consulting Wings, a social organisation that trains women chauffeurs and also operates taxis only for women. In one stroke, not only was Sakha providing women from marginalised backgrounds a viable employment opportunity, it also offered safe mobility to the rising number of women in Delhi who can afford to pay for it. As a pioneering initiative to provide a chauffeur and taxi service run by women and meant only for women and their families, this one was truly great.
In urgent need for a driver to ferry the kids to school and their myriad daily engagements, I decided to try Sakha out. I filled out its long online registration form with exhaustive questions about the nature of work and so on. Within a day of filling the form, I received a call from Sakha, asking when we’d be free for a test drive. I’d not expected such promptness and efficiency, being used to the oft-murky professional ethics of regular Delhi drivers. Again, I was quizzed on the exact nature of the job we expected our driver to do. I was also told what Sakha expected us to pay our driver, as well as the overtime rates. It all seemed very professional and well thought out.
In response to my queries about how exactly the organisation worked, I was told that Sakha and its sister non-profit organisation, Azad Foundation, handpick girls from poor backgrounds for driver training, sponsored by Azad Foundation. Driver training is provided by Maruti Institute of Driving and Technology Research, as well as their in-house trainers. To my great satisfaction, I learnt that the ladies are also trained in self-defence by the Delhi Police. The Crimes against Women Cell and an NGO for women’s rights, Jagori, equip them with the means to deal with untoward incidents on the roads, and an understanding of women’s rights. Other than this, the ladies also receive training in map reading, routes and roads in Delhi, communications and grooming. So, what we, as employers, could expect were smart, efficient and well-trained women behind the wheels of our cars.
Sakha had already placed two batches of female chauffeurs. We were going to try out the last two ladies of the third batch. Anyway, we set up a test drive for the following Sunday. My household was agog. “Are we going to get a didi driver?” my eight-year-old asked. My son, slightly older with more stereotypes in his head, was apprehensive. Our other driver was quite irritated at the prospect of a female colleague, and muttered darkly about never having heard of such a thing.
As I saw age-old gender myths and stereotypes collapsing around the household, anticipation reached fever pitch.
Early that Sunday morning, two ladies rang our bell, and presented us with letters of introduction from Sakha. They were polite, well turned out and unafraid of long working hours and the commute to our South Delhi home (both lived in West Delhi). They’d both clocked only 100 driving hours each, which was a negative since we needed someone experienced to drive the children around. Although it didn’t work out, we were impressed by the professionalism they and Sakha displayed.
That day, even our old driver seemed sorry to see them go. “If only they’d been more experienced,” said he ruefully. If they’d managed to impress that old codger so quickly, I thought, maybe there was hope for Delhi’s new breed of didi drivers…
