On a fine morning, at Mananchira, Kozhikode, a group of college girls waiting for bus commented on a young conductor in a city bus ‘Mokavoor Amma’. Only after boarding the bus did the girls realize that the conductor was not a man, but a lady. For Sinu Abraham, a conductor in the bus, such incidents are frequent on her trip from Badirur to Medical College. 24- year- old Sinu has been working as a conductor for the last two years.
A resident of Mokavoor, Sinu shares her experience and says that her hair style is what makes the girls confused. It was by chance, while I was working at a textile mill in Tamil Nadu, that I chose this classic style boy cut.
Financial difficulties and obligations in her family forced her to quit her education, when she was just a Plus-One commerce student at the St John’s High School in Nellipoyil.
“I was very shy and tried to keep myself away from others when I joined a computer study centre after returning from Tamil Nadu. But the four friends I made while at the centre- Prasobh, Prajeesh, Babitha and Sruthi- changed my life. They stood beside me in all my difficult times,” said Sinu. An advertisement in a newspaper is what changed her life.
“I happened to see an advertisement inviting female conductors. Though I didn’t have any previous experience, I applied anyway. I desperately needed a job at the time and was willing to do anything,” she recalls. During the license test, she was asked the responsibility of a conductor. “Since my father was a conductor in a bus plying from Kozhikode to Wayanad I did not find any difficulty in answering that a conductor is accountable for everything related to a bus,” she said While explaining the funny aspects of being a conductor, she admits that the job is demanding. “We have to take care of the passengers, co-workers and even the pedestrians.”
Her day starts at 4.30 am and ends at 8.05 pm. “At the end of the day, I find it hard to stand on my feet. All the bus workers are friendly enough to trust. Personally, I have not experienced any kind of harassment from men,” she said.
Asked about her future plans, Sinu said, “I want to complete the construction work on my home soon, and then I am interested to do a diploma course in computer networking. A job in a computer centre is my dream.”