Driving a taxi, taking care of her family

Nabina Khadka, 41, is a rare female taxi driver in Kathmandu. She has met a few other woman taxi drivers but most of them have either already dropped out of the profession or gone back to their village. Before being a cab driver, Khadka, who has been driv­ing for the past one and a half years, ran a liquor-cum-conve­nience store in Baluwatar. She still manages the store when she is not driving.

 

Born and raised in a village in Dolakha district, she came to Kathmandu to pursue an intermediate-level degree in 1996, when she was in her mid-20s. After getting the degree, she started her store in Baluwatar. Struggling to make her ends meet, it was in 2014 that she gave her first trial for a driving license, but failed. She passed on her second try in the same year. Nabina complains that because of male-bias at the Department of Transport, her licensing took “a lot longer than it would have taken my male counterparts”. Her hus­band, also a taxi driver, sup­ported her decision to drive a cab. Now Nabina supports her family via the income from her store, the taxi and some rooms she rents out.

 

Despite getting a driving license in 2014 it took her three more years to buy a cab and start driving. “In the beginning, some of my rela­tives objected, but my parents were supportive.” But what motivated her to take up this traditionally male-dominated profession to start with?

 

“I was inspired by the women of the Tarai who have been earning their livelihood by ferrying passengers in their electronic rickshaws,” explains Nabina. “I also love meeting people from various walks of life”.

 

She feels saddened by the paucity of women in her profession. Nabina believes women of the 21st century should prove they are as strong, hard-working and conscientious as their male counterparts, if not better than them. She thinks women should break free from their traditional role of home-maker. “Women can definitely do much better if they are given adequate opportunity and freedom,” says Nabina.

 

Perhaps because she is con­fident in her driving Nabina says her passengers have no qualms being driven around by a woman.

 

Don’t things sometimes get scary when she unknowingly admits unruly passengers? “I drive night and day. At night, I feel a little afraid of drunkards and criminal-minded passen­gers. But I am picky whom I let in and I avoid going to places I know little about.”

 

Emphasizing the need to bring taxi fares in line with the increased prices of commodities, she hopes the government creates an environment where “taxi driv­ers can viably support their families in an expensive city like Kathmandu”.