'I want to tell everybody there is nothing in the world that you can't do.'
'If you apply your mind, you can do anything and everything.'
Radhamani Amma, 74, widely known as Mani Amma, can be described as a trendsetter, legend and an inspirational figure for many young women in Kerala.
She is perhaps the only woman in India with 11 driver's licenses including a license to drive a JCB and crane, and also a certification to drive vehicles carrying hazardous goods!
It was when businessman Anand Mahindra posted about her on X (external link
How Radhamani Amma obtain so many driving licences?
"I feel so happy and content that I can be an inspiration to many women," Radhamani Amma tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
When did your fascination for vehicles start?
To tell you the truth, I never had any fascination for vehicles!
I grew up in a small village in Cherthala, and those were the days when no buses came to my village. And who owned cars in those days? You can say, I grew up without seeing any vehicles!
I was just a 17 year old when I got married and came to Kochi in 1967. Soon after I wrote my SSLC exam, I was married off. In fact, my results came only after my marriage.
Maybe because I was a young girl from a village, I was interested in everything around me.
I became a part of all the businesses my husband's family did, from poultry farming to running a workshop.
My husband, T V Lalan, used to buy old vehicles, work on them and then sell them. Maybe my interest in vehicles started there.
I enjoyed being at the workshop, talking to the workers, observing what they did, even helping them.
I must also add that I was interested in the mechanics of the vehicles as much as I was interested in taking care of the animals in the farm.
I became aware of what goes inside a vehicle including the working of the engine.
The turning point was when my husband decided to start a driving school for heavy vehicles.
He gave application forms in the names of a couple of family members, one of which was mine.
It so happened that the government gave us the permission to start a driving school for heavy vehicles and the application that was accepted was in my name.
It was the first driving school in Kerala for heavy vehicles, and it was in my name!
That was how I was dragged into this field. Not because I was interested in vehicles or driving!
When did you learn to drive? Were you excited when you first drove a vehicle?
Excited? On the contrary, I was shivering when I first started driving. I looked at driving as suffering initially.
We had an Ambassador car which we used as a taxi, and I had my first driving lessons in it.
Unlike today, in those days not many households had cars. And women driving even cars was unheard of.
But your husband decided to teach you driving...
I must appreciate his vision.
He was a man who tried so many businesses. Failure did not deter him from starting anything new. If a business flopped, he would start something else.
It was because he was a visionary that he started a driving school for heavy vehicles then.
You said you had your first driving lesson in an Ambassador car. From a four-wheeler license to heavy vehicle license, when did that happen?
My husband felt as the owner of a heavy vehicle driving school, I should have the driving license for heavy vehicles.
In 1988 when I started learning to drive heavy vehicles, I found them easier than four wheelers.
I will not forget my first drive. It was an Ashok Leyland bus and I drove it from Kochi to Cherthala.
I was not worried or scared as it was a driving school vehicle which had a clutch and brake at the back for the teacher.
So, I knew even if I made a mistake, my husband would see to it that I did not have an accident.
But it was tough to drive the heavy vehicles of those days; the steering was hard and we had to have a double clutch to change the gear.
You said you drove a bus from Kochi to Cherthala. How did people on the way react when they saw a woman drive a bus?
I am not exaggerating when I say people looked at me with their mouths wide open!!
I heard children shouting 'Come and see a woman driving a bus'!
I think I am the first woman in Kerala to drive a bus.
After that, I drove a trailer to Alappuzha. The way people reacted was the same.
Funnily, I learnt to ride a two-wheeler only in 1993, much after learning to drive the heavy vehicle.
Though I found tough learning to ride a two-wheeler, I enjoy driving it more now.
You have 11 driving licenses now...
I have 11 licenses with an endorsement certificate to drive a vehicle carrying hazardous goods.
Taking 11 licenses happened after our driving school became a driving institute in 2014.
We teach driving vehicles like the JCB, forklifts, cranes, excavators, trailers, tractors, etc.
As we added new types of vehicles, I drove them and added licenses to my kitty!
Not just learning to drive all the vehicles we have, sometimes I teach the students and look after the office work too.
I may have studied only up to SSLC, but I like to learn everything. I have learnt to operate computers too.
Today, when I drive containers on the road, people look at me with lots of respect.
If it was surprise and shock in the eighties, today people are in awe and very respectful.
In fact, I have lots of fans mainly, children! They recognise me and request for pictures to be taken with me.
That's the difference in the attitude I see now.
Do you enjoy being an inspiration to many young women?
Of course! That's the only thing I can do -- be an inspiration to the new generation.
Unlike in the past, today many women join our institute to learn to drive JCBS, cranes, etc.
Many women take driver's licenses, but do not drive. But when they see me, a 74-year-old driving a JCB, they think if she can, why can't we?
I feel so happy and content that I can be an inspiration to many women.
I want to tell everybody there is nothing in the world that you can't do.
If you apply your mind, you can do anything and everything.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
