Three-wheeler lady

Driven to a corner by poverty, Philomena Fernandes started driving an autorickshaw in Mumbai 17 years ago

On a lazy Sunday morning, Shraddha Gokhale, a dentist, walked to the autorickshaw stand at Sion. About four autorickshaw drivers refused to drive her to a place ten minutes away, preferring to wait for a larger fare. Irritated, she walked to the fifth autorickshaw, prepared to hear another "no". The driver turned out to be a woman of about 50 years wearing a spotless white uniform.

"I was surprised. Anybody would have been surprised to see a woman autorickshaw driver," Gokhale said, adding that it was a first for her.

Philomena Fernandes, one of the few woman autorickshaw drivers in Mumbai and the main breadwinner of her family of five, started driving an autorickshaw 17-years-ago, when she was in desperate need of money. Born and brought up in Chembur, Fernandes studied till Class VIII at St Anthony's School. She was married when she was about 15 and lost her husband at a very early age.

"Both my sons were very young at that time. I had to bring them up, educate them all by myself," Fernandes recalled. "I had no choice but to start working."

Her neighbour, who drives an autorickshaw, suggested the profession to Fernandes. He helped her get a permit, driving license and even taught her how to drive a three-wheeler.

In 1994, with the help of a loan she paid Rs 80,000 to buy her own autorickshaw and since then has been proudly driving the vehicle in Mumbai, mostly within Chembur. "Now all auto drivers in my area know me, so they don't find the sight of a woman driver unfamiliar. But when I go to other areas, drivers and other people give me surprised looks," Fernandes said, adding that some have even asked her to pose for a picture.

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