The hands that steer the wheel

Sareeka Yongpang Rai

Nineteen-year-old Binita Shrestha’s day starts early. At 6:30 in the morning, she is already in the tempo stand in front of the RNAC building. Driving her Safa Tempo with the ease and the confidence of a pro, Binita is in her element when she’s behind the wheel of this popular mode of public transport.

Sunita Phuyal drives an EVCO company Safa tempo. She also operates in the same route as Binita Shrestha does and shares the same tempo stand with her.

They represent the new breed of Nepalese women who have taken a step towards being unconventional and have decided to follow the route off the beaten track. A number of Safa Tempos driven by women operate in various routes. Some of them, like Binita, have perhaps taken the step out of the desire to do something different but there are some who have had to take up the profession out of circumstances that could not be helped.

Binita Shrestha is a Commerce student in the Padma Kanya Campus, she has just completed her certificate level education. She plans to study for a Masters and perhaps, even further. She is also the youngest child in her family.

"I have been more like a boy than a girl," she says, which is why her parents encouraged her to join this field.

However, once the decision was made, a number of problems awaited her and the other girls who had taken the same decision, most of them related to perfecting the art of driving a tempo. She and the other girls were trained together by Sumitra Dangal. In fact, Dangal has trained a majority of the women in most of the routes. The fee (NRS 5000) was expensive, says Binita and until and unless they made a down payment, the total amount, "Sumitra would not even let us sit inside the tempo."

The training itself did not make perfect tempo drivers out of the women. According to Binita, they were allowed to touch the steering wheel for a mere five minutes. Moreover, they practiced in the open field of Tundikhel which is vastly different from the crowded streets of the city. To make matters worse, Dangal would change the location for practice time and again.

In return for the trouble and her perseverance, Binita is today an experienced tempo driver, driving for more than half a year. She also holds an authentic license. "These days, so many are getting employed as tempo drivers, without getting a license," she says, adding, "There are accidents from time to time."

Although she too had more than her share of trouble learning to drive the tempo, Sunita Phuyal’s problems did not start on the training grounds. Originally from Alapote, Sundarijal, she was educated till grade VIII in Kurseong, India. After marriage, she and her husband tried their hands at different kinds of businesses. "We had quite a comfortable life," she says.

When her youngest child was five years old, Sunita got a chance to work in Kuwait. It was tough parting from her children, she says, but her husband told her that the money was good. She became a domestic helper in a Kuwaiti household. Soon she got a letter from her husband, stating that he had admitted the children into a boarding school in Hetauda. He also asked her to send money to pay the admission fees. Sunita sent him something that amounted to NRS 35,000 and was rather surprised when he did not even acknowledge the receipt of the money. It was only 2 months later that her husband called, once again to ask for money.

"I was very angry and hurt," she says. She had been sick and bedridden for six days and had been under serious medication. "I started crying over the phone and asked him if money was the only thing that he cared for." Her husband responded with anger and hung up.

He was incommunicado after that incident.

A couple of months later, she received a letter from the Principal of the school where the children were studying. He informed her that Bharat Phuyal had not even paid the children’s fees after admission and that he had been missing.

Her in-laws refused to take the children and Sunita had a two-year contract that could not be broken. "I requested the Principal of the school to keep my children and I promised to pay him off the moment I came to Nepal," she says.

Two years later, she spent almost all that she had earned paying off the total amount of NRS 2,00,000.

Sunita met her husband again. He gave the excuse of having had to go "underground" as he had suffered great losses in business. She decided to forgive him once again and spent almost all of what was remaining of her earnings in paying off his debts, accommodating him into another flat and providing him with his basic needs.

After some time, she once again got the opportunity to work aroad, this time in Dubai. She was hesitant, but once again Bharat told her that the money was good. She left for Dubai and within months, she found out that her husband had not mended his ways.

He has been missing since then.

Sunita has tried everything from knitting and sewing to running a school mess to educate her children. When none of it worked out well for her and she saw a woman driving a Safa tempo, she decided to take up driving as a profession. "What will become of my children if I don’t work?" she questions, "They will become Khates!"

Trained under Sumitra Dangal, Sunita mentions facing similar problems while learning. She had asked for a discount on the training fee and Dangal told her that although she would not be able to give her a discount, she would make sure that Sunita perfected her driving within 20 days.

It did not happen. It took her almost five months between failing the driving tests, requesting the licensing officers to speed up the process. "I used to buy meals for some of the tempo drivers who taught me to drive and gave money to some of them but some did teach me for free too," she says.

Today, both the women earn a set salary of NRS 4000 a month and they are required to submit NRS 132 for each trip they make to the sahu (owner of the tempo). Any extra money earned after paying the owner of the tempo is a profit. Lately earnings have not been very good especially with the entry of the microbus. A tempo driver who is unable to earn NRS 132 out of a trip has a corresponding amount deducted from his/her salary.

According to Sunita, the sahu of the tempo she drives is quite considerate. On one occasion, he did not deduct her salary when she was unable to submit NRS 132 per trip although he has warned her that he will not always be so considerate. Apart from the fact that passengers flock towards the microbus, competition is also the cause of low earnings. "You cannot only have scores of tempos waiting in line," says Binita, "We need passengers too."

Goma Uprety who started with driving a Safa Tempo, now runs a modest driving institute along with her husband. Mechi-Mahakali Driving Institute was started about four months ago and Uprety informs that women are in a majority among the trainees. In fact, she says, to date she has trained only about 8-9 men. The institute is doing quite well with at least 10-15 students every month. Although, the institute offers lessons in driving various types of vehicles, Goma handles training tempo learners only. Apart from dividing her time between her family and the institute where she and another male driver are the only instructors, Goma still drives a tempo. She charges NRS 3500 and conducts the training on the route itself instead of Tundikhel.

Recently, some staff of the Minibus Entrepreneurs Association allegedly molested Rekha Pokharel, a woman tempo driver. Sunita says that although most of the males driving Safa tempos have not given her much to complain about, there are some who try to dominate. Binita complains of drivers of other forms of public transport like the LPG Tempos and minibuses having a domineering attitude towards them. They have been known to tease them while operating on the routes and jeer at them. "I think they do this not because we are women but simply because we are Safa tempo drivers," she says.

The major complaints, however, are against the traffic policemen. According to Binita, some of them even try to hit them. "I once came across one traffic policeman who spoke to me in such a belittling manner and even threatened to kick me," says Sunita angrily. "I know I had parked in the wrong area but I was about to leave. Anyway, he does not have any right to speak to anyone in such a manner."

With a number of problems to be faced everyday, Binita Shrestha is looking for a change of profession. She informs that she will soon be appearing for a test for recruitment in the Nepal Police force. If she passes the test, she will probably join the police force the next year. "Actually I don’t mind joining another profession if I get the opportunity right now," says Binita.

These women want to see the Government actively developing programmes for women that will train them to be better drivers of any form of public transport. They wish that there were courses for women (at an affordable fee) to learn to drive the microbus.

Sunita Phuyal questions as to why the Government cannot train women like her in such fields. "I am not the only woman who has gone through a hard life," she points out, "There are many like me and if the Government seriously did something for us, it would be of such big help."

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