On a bustling Monday morning in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, I found myself in the middle of a busy automobile garage– with rattling engine sounds, busy mechanics fixing the nuts and bolts of bikes and customers queuing up one after the other to get their vehicles serviced or repaired. Amidst all the noise and commotion, something powerful was taking shape at the somewhat usual-looking garage. Once told they could only sew and cook, over 15 women mechanics are now redefining what equal opportunities at work look like.
At the heart of this initiative is Samaan Social Development Society (Samaan), an organization enabling women from underserved communities to enter non-traditional, male-dominated livelihoods and in the process, working towards shifting social norms. The garage I visited is possibly India’s first women-run garage. Over 15 women mechanics are working under the NGO’s non-traditional livelihoods program across four garages. During my field visit as part of my work at the Rebuild India Fund, I had an opportunity of interacting with some of the amazing women mechanics that made this possible.
The conversations helped me understand that while social change is often slow- because it involves shifting deep-rooted mindsets, power structures, and cultural norms that take time to transform- it is very much possible.
The First Challenge
Women working in Samaan’s garage come from socially and economically underserved groups. Before joining the training program to become a mechanic, some of them were engaged in domestic work while many others were struggling to make ends meet with rising costs and corresponding care burden. Convincing them to join the program was a challenge. The first resistance came from close quarters – family members and neighbors. “Are you going to do mechanic work now?”, “Does it look good?”, “What do you know about fixing vehicles?”, the questions were endless. Chandni’s brother ridiculed her decision to join the training program and blamed her for maligning their family’s reputation. It took months of convincing and tolerating abusive hurls until he realized what she was doing was adding value to her own growth and the family’s growth.
Many women who started out slowly became catalysts of change for fellow women in the community. Women had to still do the tightrope walk between familial expectations, care burden, societal mindsets and their own ambitions to live a dignified life and earn a livelihood.
Travelling out of their homes also allowed the women to explore public spaces more freely. This was the first time many of them had traveled independently. The program and the women’s commute to the garage gave them immense confidence as mobility has become easier and more fun.
The Transformational Power of Learning
Women who enrolled in the program were still very unsure about their own capabilities. For many, this was the first non-domestic space that they had stepped into, and the experience was riddled with self-doubt and anxiety. Slowly and gradually as they started learning the ropes of the trade, one bolt at a time, they started feeling confident. “I always thought that I had a lot to prove to my family because they had allowed me to step out and enroll in this program,” said Nalini.
While learning the skills was a challenge that they worked on overcoming, they had a bigger problem to solve – attitudes and perceptions of customers. During the initial years, customers (mainly men) who arrived at the garage to get their bikes fixed would not be able to trust the women mechanics with their vehicles. “They would micromanage and constantly check what we were doing, questioning us, making constant suggestions and would often stay back till the entire job was done. They were unable to trust us and our skills.” The women-built faith and trust one step at a time and as they fixed vehicles seamlessly and assured their customers time and again, they started seeing many repeat customers who now blindly leave their vehicles to be taken care of by the women mechanics.
Samaan now wants to make their garages more accessible to women clients, who also often depend on their male counterparts for getting their vehicles fixed. This shift won’t happen overnight, but the organization is working on popularizing their women-run garages with the hope that more women customers find it easier to access and understand how automobiles function.
A Dream for the Future
The women working in the Samaan garage have seen an incremental shift in mindsets both on the home and societal fronts primarily owing to the economic benefits that come with their work. Most women have seen a marked improvement in their monthly earnings and are happy that they are able to do this keeping their dignity intact. “This is work we like doing and we feel proud of being among the first few women to break into this otherwise male dominated space,” said the women.
Once skeptical of sending their daughters/wives/sisters out to work as mechanics, male members are now proud of them and speak very highly of their skills among their peers and neighbors. The financial independence that has come with the job has enabled many women to pay off their loans, support the education of young family members and prioritize savings. Savita, a woman mechanic, lost her husband due to an illness and stopped working at the garage briefly. But her fellow women mechanics and representatives of Samaan brought her back to work and she has now been successful in buying a small house for herself and her children. The program has enabled a huge mindset shift in the way these women dream of their futures. They now have bigger dreams and the confidence to chase them despite all barriers that come their way. Many are interested in working in bigger, more mechanized, and sophisticated garages.
Some others dream of starting their own garages. This journey is not easy. In a male dominated, considerably informal and unorganized sector such as this, finding the right place for women mechanics where they not just earn a livelihood but also feel safe to work in, is an uphill battle. But it only underlines something that often goes unnoticed in the social sector- change is only incremental, and it is the journey that matters as much as the goalpost!
Edited by Ankita Bhatkhande
#Samaan Social Development Society is supported by the Rebuild India Fund.
#Names of the women mechanics have been changed to protect their privacy.
