On International Women's Day 2025, as part of our Women at Work issue, we feature Sushma Midde, a 38-year-old cab driver from Belur.
Sushma Midde, 38, lives in Belur. In the environment where she was raised, people believed that girls are meant to spend their lives cooking, so there was no need for them to study. However, her mother wanted her to get an education, and so, Sushma managed to pass class ten.
Her father was a farmer who worked on others’ land, and her husband worked in a jute mill. One day, a close acquaintance inspired her to learn driving. After much struggle, she got a commercial driving license. Initially, the authorities refused to issue it to her just because she was a woman.
She took a loan and bought a car, registering herself on an app-based cab service. At the start, she faced several rejections from customers who refused to board a cab driven by a woman. Later, the app-based cab service started calling customers after receiving bookings, requesting them to trust her as a driver and vouching for her skills. Gradually, people started accepting her, and her hard work paid off.
Sushma still faces challenges at work. People often tell her to go home and cook instead of driving. Bus and truck drivers deliberately try to intimidate her on the road, but she stays calm behind the wheel. She encourages all women to take charge of their lives and lead independent lives.