Women Gig Workers Dare to Take on World

“Aaneka, karne ka aur darne ka nahi.” This is how Alvelu, a taxi driver in Hyderabad, describes her choice to take up a job that many still consider unsuitable for women, and the dogged courage that keeps her going despite fear.

He’s been driving for Uber for three years, despite Hyderabad’s traffic, heat and occasional 12-hour days, but achieving those 12-hour days has taken longer than most people know. He spent almost a decade working as a security guard in a hospital and then as a Zomato delivery worker. “The salary was small,” he says. “Wages, rents and everything just kept going up.”

He decided to learn to drive. Lunch breaks turned into lessons at a driving school, and the first challenge came before he even started, when he decided to buy a car. “My CIBIL score was good,” he says. “Still, people in the showroom told me they wouldn’t give a woman a taxi license plate. Just a home plate.” He kept trying. One showroom turned him down. Another did the same. The third finally agreed. The car came with credit and installments. The road came with its own costs.

“If I earn ₹3,000 a day after working 12 hours, around 1,500 goes towards fuel. Then there is servicing, tyres, oil change etc. Also, taxi aggregators work on ratings. If you refuse a ride, the rating drops and when the rating drops, the business weakens.

Another woman starts her day hours early. Rahima Begum wakes up at 5.30 in the morning. Breakfast needs to be cooked before he leaves. Urban Company’s reservations start in the morning, and she goes out at 7.30, wearing a burqa.

“My husband died of cancer six months ago. After that I had to start working.” Sweeping, mopping. cleaning the bathroom, dusting and sometimes doing laundry. Houses change but the routine remains the same. “I earn around eight thousand rupees in a fortnight. Most of it goes towards expenses.”

Ratings are also important here. “If customers give bad ratings, the company therefore cuts a large percentage.” He walks to work because he doesn’t have a car at home and driving lessons cost 5,000 rupees.

“Mujboori insaan ko sab kuch sikha deti hai,” he says. Necessity teaches everything to a woman who has never stepped outside before.

Another woman drives a truck and carries cargo around the city and sometimes outside. “I continue to drive up to 100 km and have been to Odisha Vijayawada, Karnataka and more several times,” says Archana, who had to step up and learn to drive a truck after her father, who was also a driver, had an accident at work that required three fingers on one hand. He couldn’t work after that, and neither could his mother. She was the youngest of four sisters and came into play while continuing her education. Archana starts working around seven in the morning. Reservations appear throughout the day and the last ride may arrive at 10pm, sometimes at 11pm or midnight.

All three women carry two shifts that include working outside and working at home.

“People say it’s not women’s work,” says Alivelu. “But women fly planes. They drive trains. They drive buses. Why should women be afraid?”

The city around them is still asking this question in different ways. The deeper resistance doesn’t come from customers. Many male drivers say women are taking their jobs away. Alivelu has been turned away from showrooms, but he’s not dilly-dallying about it. Instead, she lists women flying planes, women driving trains, trucks, and school buses, and women working in law, medicine, and the police. “We work inside and outside the home. So tell me what exactly women can’t do? So why hold back?”

This is where another side of the city emerges. Passengers greeted the female driver with excitement. Riders who want it again. Followers who watch Archana’s driving videos online. women ask. How to enter the same area? Both Archana and Alivelu have more than 40,000 and 50,000 followers on Instagram and many female viewers follow them. with hope, with hope of getting out, with hope of being financially independent, and with hope of being able to achieve better in life. “More women should come and not worry about what people say,” Alivelu said, adding: “Aaneka, karne ka aur darne ka nahi.”