Celebrating
Sharmila! | & ‘Gender’ing!
Well, it’s
celebration time for yet another vibrant achiever!
In
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu to be precise!
Sharmila started
working as a bus driver from 31st March 2023, for a private agency, and her bus
route is between Gandhipuram and Somanur in Coimbatore.
Says
Sharmila -
The
happiest day of my entire life, was when my dream came through! My dream of
sitting in the driver’s seat, and taking full control of the 12-metre-long
passenger bus,
the 24-year-old vibrant young lady who is making us all proud every
passing day.
Although she
has a diploma in pharmacy, she confesses that she’s always been passionate about driving.
I don’t
know if many would get such a loving dad like I’ve got! That way, I’m so lucky,
says
Sharmila, heaping a lot of praise and accolades on her father, who has
nourished and nurtured her dreams all along.
More than
a dad, he’s a friend to me, with whom I share everything – both good and bad,
says a proud
Sharmila, and adds on say,
Dad
doesn’t like it when I quarrel or get angry with anyone. He’s an embodiment of
patience and he’s always advocated patience as the primary quality for a person
in public service.
Well, in
this particular ‘liberative’ post, what makes me regard Sharmila so highly, and connect her
with social feminism is the fact that, never once does she utter a word anywhere
that, she’s happy to sit ‘like a man’, or ‘browbeat’ a man, or ‘overtake’ a
man, or ‘usurp’ the seat of a man, or ‘attempt’ to be like a man.
On yet
another occasion, speaking to The Hindu, she says,
Driving
heavy vehicles has always been my ambition. I got a license for heavy
vehicles six months ago. I applied at this private agency and was assigned bus
duty. I felt ecstatic on my first day on March 31.
Never once does
she say anywhere that, it feels so nice to sit in a ‘man’s place’!
She’s always
taken care to emphasize only on her own sweet aspirations, her noble longings,
her vibrant dreams to sit at the driver’s seat.
Not because
she wanted to overtake a man, or usurp a man’s place, but only because she
wanted to realise her dreams.
Many in the
media, have admired and appreciated her as having ‘broken the glass ceiling’,
and for having ‘stormed her way into a male bastion’.
Many others
have also appreciated her, saying, ‘Despite being a woman, she has achieved this
great feat!’
That’s good
for the appreciation part!
Indeed, Ms.
Sharmila, the first female bus driver from Coimbatore has done the unthinkable!
But I
personally feel that it’s really kinda unjust to say that Sharmila has achieved this great feat, despite being a woman!
It’s akin to
saying, ‘In spite of being dark, you look beautiful’,
Or
‘In spite of being
physically challenged, you have scored high marks’.
Or
‘In spite of
being from this community, you have achieved this far!’.
All these
compliments, although well-intended, are also spiteful at the same time!
In Disability
Studies, there’s a tagline that advocates, ‘People-first language’.
I quote,
The
disability rights movement has promoted a move away from a language of handicap
towards a more empowering language that emphasises self-determination and
personhood.
This people-first
language approach has given rise to the use of the term ‘person with
disabilities’, instead of using the term, a ‘disabled’ person.
That’s
because, it’s tantamount to micro-aggression when you deny the personhood of an
individual, and use some tag to promote them, which deprives them of their innate
power and their unique sense of agency.
As regards Sharmila, she just wants to celebrate her life in her own sweet, unique ways!
Let’s
celebrate Sharmila for what she has achieved!
Let’s give the achiever in Sharmila her rightful due!
On this
occasion, I was so elated to receive a lovely quote from Sai kiddo, that runs thus
–
“Girls are a
personification of celebration.”
How
beautiful and how true!
Yes! Celebration! Not Comparison... in any form whatsoever!
So yes! What
we need today, then, is a feminism, that ain’t radical, or westocentric, or
targeted at men, but a feminism that allows women to be women, realizing that,
a woman’s distinctive nature lies in her exceptional uniqueness, in her
exceptional strength, and in her exceptional phenomenality!
A strength
that doesn’t lie in imitations or comparisons!
A strength
that’s based on her own innate, phenomenal values!
But sadly, a woman’s
uniqueness and her aura, her self-confidence and her prowess are conveniently subsumed, sidelined or denied when she
is portrayed as ‘usurping’ or ‘aspiring’ or ‘attempting’ to be like their male
counterparts.
We do have a study that deals with such issues, and which goes by the label, social feminism!
In short,
social feminism envisages a distinctive style of feminism that celebrates the
innate aura and the strength of a woman for who she is, by
expanding the role of the woman in society, not by ‘imitating’ men or
‘aspiring’ to be like men, but in complementing their men folk, at the same
time, without compromising in any way whatsoever - on their ‘individuality’,
their ‘autonomy’ or their ‘agency’.
That’s
because, social feminism believes that, even a small attempt at ‘imitation’
might result in comicality or absurdity.
As Samuel
Johnson observes, “Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the
imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”
In the insightful
words of Orhan Pamuk, “As much as I live I shall not imitate them or hate
myself for being different to them”.
Social feminism
hence, gets along well with this quote –
“An original
writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate.”
That’s being
original!
That’s being
unique!
That’s being
authentic!
That’s being
phenomenal!
And yes! Therein
lies the originality, the uniqueness, the authenticity and the phenomenality of
Sharmila, the vibrant young lady from Coimbatore.
She is beyond
imitation!
To conclude
then, well, it’s time we stop portraying Sharmila as ‘breaking the glass
ceiling’, and ‘invading’ the territory or the domain of ‘men’, or ‘in spite of the fact that she is a woman’ etc and celebrate a woman for who she is!
Let’s give
Sharmila the honour that she rightfully deserves as a woman!
Let’s not
belittle her achievements by saying that, she’s ventured boldly into men’s territory.
Well, that’s
because, ‘driving’ is NOT the domain of men!
It is only
our subverted ‘patriarchal structures’ that are responsible for ‘portraying’ and ‘representing’ some of these
professions as the ‘bastions’ of men! In reality they ARE NOT!
It’s also time
we make the issue of women’s empowerment available to the masses, through the trump card of social feminism, the
way 24-year old Sharmila has done, with her zeal and resolve, by having Sharmila’s rise to fame prescribed at least in one small part in our syllabi, using her own words as the liberating, textual framework.
More power
to the phenomenal Sharmila!
Interview &
Picture courtesy: Media Mines – You Tube Channel
& The
Hindu, dt 3rd April 2023
