Breaking all the society norms and defying all odds the 21-year-old Zamarrud Parveen is the first Uber cab driver in the national capital. She has been with the company for a little over two months. Given the incidents that have happened in the recent past; a rape, a sexual harassment and the usual misbehavior of the drivers, it is a nice to have Parveen on board.
Zamarrud Parveen
Apart from working as a Uber cab driver, Parveen is also pursuing her studies and hopes to complete her MA and teach Islamic studies. None of her friends in college believed her when she told them that she was working as a taxi driver. Only when she showed them her card, did they believe her.
Parveen belongs to a conservative family with her roots in Bijnor. She lived and studied there till class 8. She later moved to Delhi with her mother and three sisters and is currently living with them. This was a life-changing moment for her. As a child she was always instructed; this made her quiet and she accepted her fate. But once she came to Delhi, things changed for her. She had a stint at Sakha, which deals with safe transportation of women. This made her more confident.
Zamarrud Parveen
After she graduated from school, she was encouraged by her mother who always wanted to learn to drive but could not. This did not stop her from making her daughter learn to drive.
Although Parveen has the support of her family, breaking out of an orthodox Muslim community was difficult. Ghazala Parveen defied all odds (Zamarrud’s mother) and educated all her daughters. She drives her taxi wearing a veil, and this is not the only power statement she is making. In an otherwise make dominated society; Parveen is surely making her mark.
Parveen is that crop of modern women, who are defining feminism in a different way. She is chatty, respectful and polite. She is riding the wave of defiance that her mother had set.
