35-year-old Ritu Narwal created history recently when she drove a bus for the first time, becoming Madhya Pradesh's first-ever woman bus driver.
Narwal starter her job for the Pink City bus service, an initiative by the Atal Indore City Transport Service Limited (AICTL) to encourage more women to use local transport.
She first drove passengers between Rajeev Gandhi Square and Niranjanpur Square in the city on the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on 2 September. Before this, she was given a test ride between 3 am and 5 am on the same day and given a go-ahead to start officially.
Narwal's father was initially against the idea of her doing this job, but she mentions that this has been a life-long dream. She had always wanted to drive a heavy-weight vehicle, and went through a lot of struggles to make it a reality. She talks about how she found the roads tough in the start, but managed eventually.
She first got a driver's license at the age of 28. She worked for hotels before this, and applied for an opening as a bus driver when she found one.
Her father eventually came around, in fact, he was the one who drove her to her test drive site at 3 am. Passengers were delighted to see a female driver for a change, and expressed their happiness for the same. AICTSL CEO Sandeep Soni added that the organisation "will train and hire two or three more women drivers for pink buses".
Narwal is one of the many women breaking the glass ceiling in different fields and making their mark in society!