Locomotivation! (Aswathy Balachandran, Railway assistant loco pilot)
Though Aswathy Balachandran, 31, a Kollam native, earns her living doing a job most women her age wouldn’t consider taking up, she cannot be prouder. The mother of a four-and-half-year old daughter has been a railway loco pilot for the past nine years. Settled in Ernakulam in 2018, she has been inspiring many women to take up the job, which until a few years back, was dominated by men. “I am one of the five loco pilots in Ernakulam division. My co-workers and superiors are very supportive. The only concern is the lack of toilets in the engine cabins. Toilets on platforms are situated far away from where the engine is. It is a struggle to go there and return to the engine in time,” she adds, saying this limitation often forces her to sit for 8 to 10 hours at a stretch. “It would be great if authorities could arrange a toilet near the engine cabin in platforms. When more women join the profession, it would really help them,” she says.
Guardian of the strays (Ambili Purackal, animal rights activist)
Ambili jokingly introduces herself as ‘the woman who was beaten up because she stood up for animal rights’. She has many stories where she, her husband Ramesh Pulickan and their friends were hunted by people who hated animals. At her home, she has 36 rescues now. She also feeds around 86 stray dogs twice a day. Ambili started fighting for animals in 2000 when a temple in her neighbourhood tried to get rid of an injured bullock. It didn’t sit well with their community. “Our next fight was in 2002, during a cattle race in Kakkoor Kalavayal, where the animals were injured and the High Court had stayed the event. But the committee went ahead with it so we protested with placards. The committee members attacked us. The police intervened and saved me. However, I can still recall the pain,” she said. In 2018, during the floods, Ambili’s family was asked to evacuate, but she refused to move until her dogs were safe. As a result, she and her family had to take refuge on the terrace for four days and five nights, without food or water. She believes rights are the same for all life — man, woman or animals.
Kochi’s Italian mother (Sr Fabiola Fabri, nun and social worker)
In 2012, when two Malayali fishermen were shot dead and Italian marines were booked for it, the diplomatic relations between the two countries took a hit. Fearing an escalation of tensions, the Italian Embassy in India advised Italian citizens to return, and many left. But sister Fabiola Fabri stayed back. She didn’t stop there, she got herself Indian citizenship. It was difficult for a woman like Sr Fabiola, a nun under Our Lady of Consolation, to leave her ‘children’, whom she had been nurturing for 15 years. Having arrived in Kochi way back in 1996, she lived in Thoppumpady and Kumbalangi before shifting to Beach Road. “I joined the mission when I was 16. I have completed over 20 years in India, and most of it was in Kochi. There are 55 girls and 15 boys at separate homes under my care now. Apart from accommodation, they get dance, yoga, sports and vocational training,” she said.
M for mother (Mary Anitha, clinical psychologist)
Dr Mary Anitha, a clinical psychologist, made headlines when she volunteered to take care of six-month-old Elbin when his parents were in quarantine after contracting Covid. But when she returned the baby to his parents once they were out of quarantine, Dr Anitha was in tears. That is why she is the first one the Kochi police calls while dealing with abandoned children. Recently, the police found a two-and-a-half-year old boy abandoned in a park and informed Anitha. She took care of the child for a day till the Child Welfare Committee took over. By then his parents were located but they refused to take him back. “I started my social responsibility initiative - Centre for Empowerment and Enrichment — in 2007. It was registered as an NGO in 2011. In 2012, we started celebrating Children’s Day for special kids, a first for the country,” Dr Anitha said. She is now the district manager for a disaster management inter-agency group of 44 organisations in Ernakulam.
Food for thought (Sheeba Jose, social worker)
When the 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced in 2020, many destitute were left to starve. When most people stayed home, Sheeba Jose, an office assistant stepped up despite financial constraints. She started distributing 100 food packets to the homeless around the city. When Sheeba Jose was returning from church with her son one day, she spotted a man taking food out of a garbage bin and eating it. “The sight remains etched in my mind. I wanted to help but didn’t have any money. I went back home and discussed it with my husband. Together, we started supplying food packets to the needy,” says Sheeba. She distributes food along with her husband, an autorickshaw driver, every Sunday. Initially, they used their savings for it. Soon, their friends stepped in to help. They are often accompanied by their son and neighbours.
Making ‘hiss’tory (Roshni G S, snake rescuer)
When most people spot a snake in their house, they impulsively call for ‘men in the neighbourhood’. The face of snake catching for Malayalis, Vava Suresh, is a man too. But Roshni G S, a beat forest officer at Thiruvananthapuram division who is currently based in the Paruthipally forest range, will break this stereotype for you in no time. A member of the first batch of woman forest officers from the Kerala Forest and Wildlife department in 2017, she is the only woman snake rescuer certfied under the department. Roshni, a Nedumangad native, underwent nine months of training before she was posted at the Paruthipally range in the Vithura section.
“When I took charge, there was no concept of snake handlers or rescuers. I was always fascinated with the work. In 2019, the forest department initiated training to handle snakes scientifically. I was part of that session, and we got practical classes too,” says Roshni. They were also taught to identify venomous and non-venomous snakes and to use the SARPA app launched by the department. “My first rescue was a cobra. I did it in 27 seconds. That is how I earned the licence to rescue snakes. The licence is valid for five years. I also got a tool bag that consisted of cotton bags and a tong,” explains Roshni. Roshni’s first rescue after obtaining the licence was a python from Kallar. A member of the Rapid Response team, Roshni has rescued more than 200 snakes so far and responds to over 15 spottings daily. She releases the snakes to the wild once they are safely contained. Currently, the state has around 40 snake handlers.
Master vaccinator Priya T R, nursing officer
“It was disheartening to see people returning without jabs. We had so many waiting in line. So my colleagues and I decided to work extra hours. Or we would start early. This achievement was totally unexpected,” says Priya T R, one of the two nurses chosen for the ‘best vaccinators’ award constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as part of the National Covid Vaccination Programme. Since the launch of Covid vaccines in January 2021, Priya has administered around 1.33 lakh jabs. “I have given around 900 to 1,000 jabs on some days,” says Priya, who has been working at the General Hospital since 2006. The award will be given by the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Teacher-made snacks (Uma Ramesh, social worker and teacher)
Uma, 55, is a woman of many talents – teacher, cook and social worker. And it all started when she was 14. When most kids play outside without a worry, Uma gave tuition to children to support her studies as she hailed from a big family. She settled in Kochi after her marriage. Though she continued teaching kids, earning the title ‘Uma teacher’, she started helping, her husband run his tea shop near Tirumala Devaswom Temple. The savoury vadas, chips, rice crackers, piping hot bondas and myriad of pickles made by her are a hit in the locality. “I don’t like sitting idle. Now, I give tuition to around 25 kids from LKG to UG level. On afternoons, I spend time at my teashop preparing snacks. The bondas and chutney sell like hotcakes,” she says. Uma also does social work, helping the elderly at care homes with their pensions and paper works.
Struggling to be the change (Aneera Kabeer, teacher)
In November 2021, Aneera Kabeer, a transwoman, attended her 14th interview in two months. She was wearing men’s clothes — a cap and a mask that hid most of her face. She was desperate to get a job after being rejected repeatedly due to her identity. Despite having three master’s degrees and clearing a state exam that allows her to teach senior school students, she couldn’t get a job commensurate with her qualification due to her identity. “After I revealed my identity, I was disowned by my family and had to leave home. I ran to Bengaluru, but the only option for me to earn enough money for a sex reassignment surgery was to beg on the streets,” shares Aneera, a Palakkad native. She lived at railway stations eating leftover food for days and contemplated suicide. But two good Samaritans encouraged her to start an initiative to help other transgender persons in her district. She started a canteen in the civil station in Palakkad and employed five trans people. Aneera got a part-time job as a teacher at a government school but lost it soon after. She was recently promised a permanent job by Education minister V Sivankutty. Crrently, she is working as a cluster resource coordinator at BRC, Ottapalam.