It is hard to miss Gayatri on the streets of Jainpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya because a 35-year-old lady ferrying passengers in an e-rickshaw around the town is not a common sight in this small UP town.
But, it is not by choice. In fact, Gayatri was forced to drive an e-rickshaw to fulfill her dream. She wants to make her daughter, Shreya a doctor.
Married off early in her teenage, Gayatri’s husband left her alone to struggle after she gave birth to a girl child. However, she was not bogged down by the loneliness. She never lost hope and decided to grow her daughter up and make her a doctor, in a hope to prove that delivering a girl child is not a sin and she can be more than capable to stand on her own legs.
Driving a rickshaw was not her first choice though. After her husband left, Gayatri left Shreya at her sister’s home and went to work in several private companies. But the salary was not enough to support the study of her daughter.
It was then that Gayatri’s mother intervened, and she advised her to take up driving. She bought an e-rickshaw and got on with earning right away.
“I was exploited a lot in private jobs. All the companies made me work for 10-12 hours and paid me peanuts. Medical study is expensive and I could not have fulfilled my dream of making Shreya a doctor with a job. That is when I listened to my mother’s advise and decided to drive an e-rickshaw,” said Gayatri, beaming with pride.
Speaking about acceptance in society, Gayatri said, “Tourists who come to visit Ayodhya, normally do not want to sit on my rickshaw. I am an odd-one-out for them. But the people of Jainpur and Ayodhya are very cooperative. They have accepted me as an auto-rickshaw driver,” said Gayatri.
Gayatri could dream this, because her daughter has promised to fulfill it for her. Studying in class 11, Shreya is good in her studies and has made it her mission to be a doctor. The tears in her mother’s eyes and struggles to make the ends meet have only reinforced her resolve to be a doctor.
mother is struggling a lot. I have offered to do part time job to support my studies, but she (Gayatri) never agreed. She has asked me to concentrate on my studies and she will focus on earning. I have made her dream my dream,” said Shreya.
With only one year to go for her Intermediate exams, Shreya will be eligible for medical entrance test soon enough.
(Reported By Arvind Gupta, OTV)