India’s first woman railway porter has been appointed in Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Usha Devi, who joined work recently, is excited as well as nervous about her job.
“It is not the physical burden of the job that deters me. I am wary of how people will react to a woman working as a coolie,” she says.
Usha Devi says it has been a few days since she joined work and the experience has been good so far. “My male colleagues help me to load luggage on my head while women passengers even give me their child to hold. The tips are also generous but I want to be known for my work and not because I am a woman,” she says.
Usha, a resident of Achintpur village in Fatehpur district, lives with her husband, Vikram Singh and two children. The family has been going through tough times and to make both ends meet, Usha opted for this job. She had undergone Scout Guide training in 2008 and this helped her get the collie’s job with the railways.
What Usha hates most are those curious glances that are thrown her way at the railway platform.
“While some of my colleagues still dismiss me, others have started taking me seriously. However, the male passengers often stare at me as if I suffer form some abnormality. Some of them even shrug me off and call for male coolies. My family, however, is very supportive and is confident that I will carry on with my duties,” she says.
Her husband, Vikram, says, “I am proud of my wife because she has chosen the difficult path. She could have opted for household chores but she decided to take on this job.”