As a child, Kollam native Suja Thankachan had always dreamt of driving lorries, trucks and big buses - a profession that usually employs men in India.
Growing up with an uncle who drove Kerala Road Transport Corporation buses, and private tankers, Suja recalls admiring all the heavy-duty vehicles that would be parked in front of her house. She even made a promise to herself that one day she will learn to drive them all.
Three decades later, the 36-year-old has now fulfilled a part of her dream. She is an officially certified heavy bus driver. And what's better? She has achieved this dream not in India, but across the Arabian Sea, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On September 30, 2019, Suja received her heavy bus license from the Dubai Road Transport Authority after nine months of hard work and six failed attempts. She can now drive heavy buses anywhere in the UAE - a rare achievement for a woman in the country.
Three-and-a-half years ago, Suja had moved to Dubai due to a personal crisis. After landing in Dubai and realising that she had no future back in Kerala, she decided to turn her fate around and make a living in the UAE.
“My brother's friend, who works as a driver at Millenium School in Dubai, got me a job here. I initially started working as a bus conductor. Soon, I also started assisting the faculty in setting up the examination hall and counting question papers. Then, I also help students fix issues in their laptops and troubleshooting problems," she says.
Once she decided to upgrade from a conductor to a driver's post, Suja began taking driving classes to apply for a license. The training was expensive and taxing, but the 36-year-old was no quitter.
"I spent a total of Rs 2 lakh for classes and to apply for the license. The license test in the UAE is extremely hard to crack. If you miss looking at the rearview mirror or overlook a tiny detail, they will fail you. This is why it took me six attempts to finally clinch it," she says.
Every time she failed, Suja took eight more weeks of classes to correct her mistakes. During the final attempt, she recalled being extremely ill and certain that she would not make it. But, she cleared the test.
"It was probably because I had no expectations of clearing that I managed to pass the test. Surprisingly, I was not tense and managed to do everything by the rule book. With this experience, I learnt to not take failure seriously. A lot of men fail their car driving tests here multiple times. I don't even know how to drive a car but passed my bus test," she says with a laugh.
With her brand new driver's licence, Suja is all set to be promoted from conductor to driver's position in her school. She will do four trips a day where she picks up and drops 53 students from kindergarten to class 12.
As the news of Suja's accomplishment spread across the city, she started receiving job offers from other schools, private companies and even the Dubai government.
"I am not doing this for money, and even if my school does not hike my salary, I will take this job. The school staff and authorities knew it was my long-time dream. They supported me when I applied for my heavy bus license. So, I am happy to drive the students back and forth regardless of other offers," she adds.