11 Driving License Women!

‘I want to tell everyone that there is nothing in the world you can’t do.’
‘If you use your mind, you can do anything.’

IMAGE: Radhamani Amma with her JCB. All photos and videos: Courtesy of A2Z Driving Institute

Radhamani AmmaPopularly known as Mani Amma, the 74-year-old can be described as a trendsetter, legendary and inspirational figure for many young women in Kerala.

She is perhaps the only woman in India to hold 11 driving licences, including a JCB and crane driving licence, as well as a certificate to drive vehicles carrying hazardous materials!

He was a businessman at that time Anand posted about him on Mahindra X (external link

How does Radhamani Amma get so many licenses?

“I feel so happy and peaceful that I can be an inspiration to many women,” says Radhamani Amma rediff.com‘s Shobha Warrior.

When did your interest in vehicles begin?

To tell you the truth, I have never had any interest in vehicles!

I grew up in a small village of Cherthala and those were the days when buses did not come to my village. So who had a car in those days? You can say that I grew up without ever seeing a vehicle!

I was only 17 years old when I got married and came to Kochi in 1967. I got married shortly after writing my SSLC exam. In fact, my results came only after I got married.

Maybe because I was a young girl from the village, everything around me attracted my attention.

I have been a part of all the work my wife’s family does, from chicken farming to workshop management.

My wife, TV Lalan, used to buy old vehicles, work on them and then sell them. Maybe that’s where my interest in vehicles started.

I enjoyed being in the workshop, talking to the workers, observing what they were doing, and even helping them.

I should add that I am interested in the mechanics of vehicles as much as I am interested in the care of the animals on the farm.

I became aware of what happens inside a vehicle, including the operation of the engine.

The turning point was when my husband decided to open a driving school for heavy vehicles.

He submitted application forms in the names of several people, one of whom was my family member.

It so happened that the government gave us permission to open a driving school for heavy vehicles and the application was accepted on my behalf.

It was the first driving school for heavy vehicles in Kerala and it was in my name!

That’s how I drifted into this field. It’s not that I’m interested in vehicles or driving!

When did you learn to drive? Were you excited when you drove for the first time?

Excited? On the contrary, when I first started driving, I was shaking. In the beginning, I saw driving as suffering.

We had an Ambassador car that we used as a taxi and I took my first driving lessons in it.

Unlike today, not many homes had cars in those days. And even women driving was unheard of.

But your husband decided to teach you how to drive…

I have to appreciate his vision.

He was a man who tried many jobs. Failure did not stop him from starting something new. If one business failed, he would start something else.

Since he was a visionary at that time, he opened a driving school for heavy vehicles.

IMAGE: Radhamani Amma on her scooter.

You said that you took your first driving lesson in an Ambassador car. From four-wheeler license to heavy vehicle license, when did this happen?

My husband thought that as a heavy vehicle driving school owner, I should also have a heavy vehicle license.

When I started learning to drive heavy vehicles in 1988, I found them easier than four-wheelers.

I won’t forget my first ride. It was an Ashok Leyland bus and I drove it from Kochi to Cherthala.

I wasn’t worried or scared because it was a driving school vehicle with a clutch and brakes in the back for the teacher.

So even if I made a mistake, I knew my husband would do his best to make sure I didn’t have an accident.

But it was difficult to use the heavy vehicles of those times; The steering was stiff and we needed a double clutch to change gear.

You said that you took a bus from Kochi to Cherthala. How did people react when they saw a woman driving a bus on the road?

I’m not exaggerating when I say people stared at me with their mouths open!!

I heard children shouting, ‘Come and see the woman driving the bus!’

I think I am the first woman to drive a bus in Kerala.

After that I took a caravan to Alappuzha. People’s reaction was the same.

Strangely, I learned to ride a two-wheeler only in 1993, long after I had learned to drive a heavy vehicle.

Although learning to ride a two-wheeler is difficult, I now enjoy riding it more.

You now have 11 driving licenses…

I have 11 driving licenses with approval certificates for driving vehicles carrying dangerous goods.

After our driving school became a driving institute in 2014, 11 licenses were obtained.

JCB, forklifts, cranes, excavators, trailers, tractors etc. We teach you how to use tools like:

As I added new types of vehicles, I drove them and added licenses to my kitty!

Not only am I learning to use all the tools we have, I sometimes teach students and handle office work as well.

I may have only studied up to SSLC but I love learning everything. I also learned how to use a computer.

Today, when I use containers on the roads, people look at me with great respect.

Although there was surprise and shock in the eighties, today people are amazed and very respectful.

I actually have a lot of fans, especially kids! They know me and want to take photos with me.

That’s the difference in attitude I see now.

Do you enjoy being an inspiration to many young women?

Certainly! That’s all I can do; To be an inspiration to the new generation.

Unlike in the past, today many women own JCBS, cranes, etc. He joins our institute to learn how to use it.

Many women get a driver’s license but do not drive. But when they see me, a 74-year-old driving a JCB, they think, if he can do it, why can’t we?

I am so happy and peaceful that I can be an inspiration to many women.

I want to tell everyone that there is nothing in the world that you cannot do.

If you use your mind you can do anything.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/rediff.com