They said she could be anything, so she becomes a train driver. And not only that, she became India’s first woman driver! And this is no small feat, compared to the fact that the 51-year-old Surekha Yadav achieved this thirty years ago, in the 80’s.

Yadav was the first female passenger train driver on Mumbai’s Central Railways and has since become a symbol of hope for women in a male-dominated society. And she has a whopping 29-year-long career to prove her success. “It’s the most ordinary story you’ll ever hear,” jokes Surekha. “I had only completed my diploma in electrical engineering. Just like most other students, I was looking for a full-time employment opportunity. Word got around that the Indian Railways had a vacant position for an assistant driver and the requirement stated ‘diploma in any faculty’ were welcome to apply,” shares Surekha in an interview.

She was actually surprised when she received her acceptance letter one day as she believed she would never get in. And since then she never looked back. Till then no women had ever even taken the railway exams. “I was unaware that no girl or woman had worked for the Indian railways in the capacity of a train driver. Somebody had to take the first step and level the playing field. And I knew this was my chance to do something for my country, my family and myself.”

She reflects on her toughest task as being assigned as a ghat driver on the Western Ghat railway line in 2010. “No woman has ever taken up this post, we cannot give such a huge responsibility to a lady,” they said. But Surekha fought back, “I have undergone the same training that most other men have. I was appointed and selected because I possess the potential. I know I can do it.”

Refusing to back down just because the society labeled her as “weak and unable to do a man’s work,” she marched on to do her job without the slightest break in confidence.

Kudos to her indomitable spirit!