‘Braking’ stereotypes: Woman cabbie from Hyderabad defies all odds

Hyderabad: It is always a delight to see women working in male-dominated spaces, and more so to see a woman going against all odds to become an Uber driver! Dandu Lakshmi is one such woman who took up the profession because she enjoyed it. Soon, it became her everything.
“People are always happy to see a female Uber driver,” she said. “People from bigger cities are not fazed, but female drivers are relatively a new concept in Hyderabad.” A Mahabubnagar-native, Lakshmi started working for Uber four years ago. “Before that, I used to drive an Omni multi-seater van to take children to and from a school in Kushaiguda. I enjoyed it a lot. But I was out of a job during the pandemic, and signed up for the app.” She initially was inspired by another female cab driver who would pick up and drop off children at Bhavan’s college. “I saw her working and felt like I could do it too. So I enrolled in a driving school, and learned how to drive,” she said. Soon, chance came knocking at her doorstep.
Lakshmi’s husband supported her throughout the journey of becoming an Uber driver. “He was very happy when I told him I wanted to learn how to drive. He never doubted my ability,” she reminisced.
‘But the Pandemic changed everything.’ During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lakshmi lost her husband. “He had been ill for a while. Then he caught the virus during the first wave. We did not have access to oxygen cylinders during that time, and he passed away in a week,” she recalled.