Unreported Lives: One ride at a time

Breaking the proverbial glass ceiling for women maybe touted as quiet the feat but Karuna Tamang takes it all in her stride. Every single day, there is a taxi passenger or two in the capital who are slightly taken aback when they discover her at the wheel of the vehicle. A female taxi driver is still a rare sight in Kathmandu; so rare that even though Karuna claims with certainty that she can’t be the only woman in town engaged in the occupation, she herself hasn’t seen another female taxi driver.
However, Karuna quickly brushes off the admiration that often tends to come her way and deduces the lack of female representation in various fields in one short sentence: “Maybe they just haven’t tried it yet.”

Having been left at her own devices at the young age of 11 and now at 24, having built a life for herself and her three siblings, there isn’t much that Karuna believes to be undoable, that is only if we try.

At the end of this declaration, there is a chorus of “Wah! Wah!” followed by some sniggers from two of her fellow male taxi drivers at the parking lot. Karuna too bursts into laughter and tries to shoo them away with a semi-stern, “Mind your own business!” Some might take this as one of those dreaded disrespectful workplace scenarios where men overwhelming outnumber the women but Karuna reassures that isn’t the case. She has no complaints.
“Such harmless banter and teasing happens everywhere. The male taxi drivers I have come across have never been disrespectful or tried to create any sort of trouble. In fact, there are some who even compliment me on my hard work. Of course, there are also those who send the haggling, less paying customers my way but I know how to handle those,” shares Karuna.

Indeed it all circles back to her motto to carry on. Despite the hardship she claims to have learnt one thing: Earnest efforts do reap results. So she carries on, 14 hours a day like she has been doing for more than a decade. Karuna believes we can sum up her life so far as a quest for a better future. She even remembers exactly when ambition took over her life: Two years after her mother’s death.

“I think my mother has been the only one who has ever bought new clothes for me. The last I got such a gift I was nine,” she recounts. “When we lost our mother, our family just fell apart. My father began drinking. That’s when I, being the eldest, had to take charge. I remember constantly crying those two years. There was just so much poverty and emotional pain so I thought there was only one thing to do, run away from home. I was 11 years old then.”

Being born and raised among the rural mountains of Dolakha, Kathmandu seemed like a promise land. Even at the tender age of 11, she was wary about her responsibilities to help her family out of the financial rut and the capital was the way to go. She contacted her maternal uncles who were in Kathmandu behind her father’s back and begged them to find her some work. She vouched to put her heart and soul into whatever work they would find for her.

Luckily, a good family took her in as a housemaid. Her monthly salary was Rs 250. The moment she heard that, Karuna remembers mentally arranging ways to send that money back home to her siblings.

“For a girl who had never had any money to her name, Rs 250 seemed a lot. Also some of the relatives used to love my tea and would even give me extra Rs 100 every now and then. I used to absolutely relish serving them. Unfortunately though later on, I didn’t get along with the daughter of the house. After two years there, I left following a bitter squabble,” reminisces Karuna.

Like most teenagers from villages living on their own in Kathmandu, Karuna found herself left with one and only one option, a carpet factory. That’s where she says she learnt to work overtime. Even kids like her were accepted to put in more than 12 hours of work for a nominal amount, but despite the challenges Karuna didn’t see an opportunity to escape for more than two years. But then she spotted her chance.

“There is a good reason why I think women miss out on job opportunities because of their habit to adhere to gender stereotypes. It has been my experience too. At 15 when I heard an acquaintance talking about a job as a house painter, I jumped at the opportunity. Of course my keen interest was met with a flat no. He politely insisted that women don’t do such jobs and you know what, I was about to leave it at that!” says Karuna.

But thankfully, her dream of a better future spurred her on to be more persistent. She was specifically warned that like other male painters, she too would have to travel frequently and cover long distances, perform a lot of physical task and that she would always be the only girl at work. However, what motivated Karuna was the amount she would be earning. For the first time, it was going to be more than Rs 5000.

Her savings from the time has now got her a local lunch shop. She has bought her two sisters from the village and they run the place for her. Her younger brother too is in Kathmandu and is pursuing his studies. Further, just a year ago, when she discovered that driving taxis would help her earn more than her income at the time she didn’t hesitate to approach a driving institute.

“I had never even considered driving taxis for a living. But when positive ideas and favorable opportunities come your way, you can’t miss them,” urges the 24 year old. “I believe that is how I have become self reliant. Letting chances go only because you are a woman especially doesn’t make sense to me. In my experience, people and circumstances are not as hostile as people assume they might be. Besides even in difficult times, we women can take care of ourselves. We just have to try.”

She is wary of painting a too rosy picture of her life so far. It isn’t that things are not challenging at the moment either. She still has problems trying to run her shop, deal with the fuel shortage, traffic officers and take full responsibility of her three siblings. However, she is determined to be calm and carry on.

“Perhaps growing up in hardship has made me more resilient. Whenever there are some difficulties, I may panic for a while but in the heart of my heart, I have this feeling that I will eventually tackle it. Besides, almost everybody I know has similar stories of struggles and strangely, they give me more strength and make me more tolerant. My taxi and I will find our way somehow,” concludes Karuna.

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