Women have been growing in strength at the corporate office, at different industries, and have been empowered. But when it comes to toiling the entire day covered in grease, no one ever thought that a women would find herself becoming a mechanic and loving it. This is where Shanti Devi walks in. At 60, she works 12 hours a day and rolls tyres as easily as she rolls a roti. What if we were to tell you India’s only woman truck mechanic changes 50 kilo tyres like a boss? Shanti works at Sanjay Gandhi National Transport (SGNT), spread over an area of more than 75 acres and is reportedly the largest trucking stopover point in Asia. Over 70,000 trucks are parked here at any given time and around 20,000 trucks pass by every day.
Shanti Devi was born in Gwalior and led a difficult life. She worked odd jobs like rolling beedis, cleaning, stitching and just when she had enough saved up, moved out of Gwalior and settled in Delhi. She even funded her own wedding with her savings of 4000 rupees. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a match made in heaven and her husband died an early death. “He spent most of my money on gambling and alcohol and hit me if I didn’t give him money.” She remarried and together she and her husband Ram Bahadur ran a tea shop. Later, as the tea business started making a little money, it made way for a repair shop. “My husband changed tyres. Later we employed a mistry. So I asked the mistry to teach me how to change and fix tyres. But he didn’t have much time. I watched him work and taught myself. I’d hang around when they worked and after a few trials, I learned it all.”
Not surprisingly, Shanti Devi is an early-riser. She starts her day at 5 am to finish her chores at home, and then leaves for work with her husband. When she's done with her 'day job', she comes back to cooking and cleaning before calling it a day. “I wanted to help my family earn more. And I liked doing it, so I continued. I think it’s just like the work I do at home – I do it for my family. So it never felt odd to me. But yes, people did stare. Maybe they felt uncomfortable seeing a woman mechanic here. But they didn’t succeed in making me feel uncomfortable. Women don’t usually enter this field and even now I’m the only one in this area who changes truck tyres or even car tyres. It might be shocking for them but I treat it like any other work.”
The men working at her shop now treat her like any other co-worker and the male-female divide is non-existent. She does not question her strength or bother herself with “log kya kahenge”. “Women are not weaker than men. It’s true that women become weak during pregnancy and after every delivery, my body wore out a little. But it is all about your will power. If you think you can change tyres, you can.” At 60, Shanti Devi is a mother of 8 kids.
So what if women feel they’re physically weak? “Toh taqat badhao,” she insisted. (Increase your strength) “If you work every day, your strength will definitely increase. I did not know I could lift tyres till I tried and finally one day I could do it.” In a career where men call the shots, Shanti Devi carved her path. She believes in working hard and overcame every possible obstacle with good cheer. Demonetisation dried her income up; she rarely had a customer coming in. But that didn’t dampen her spirit. She's still at the shop, every day, waiting patiently for customers.
