THOOTHUKUDI: For Suba Priya, taking charge of her life was synonymous with taking control of the wheel. The 33-year-old transwoman from Muthaiapuram was driving a battery car at the Collector's office. Two years and later, she became the first transwoman to get a heavy vehicle driving licence in the district. Not willing to hit the brakes of her dreams, she aspires to become a government bus driver one day.
Priya started taking driving lessons to obtain a drivers licence in 2019. She obtained the licence, and in the same year, obtained a badge licence for operating commercial vehicles. Keeping her licence streak alive, she obtained another licence for operating heavy vehicles last Friday from the Regional Transport Office.
Speaking to TNIE, Priya said she is happy to obtain a heavy licence but she wishes to get a government job. "I do not want to earn money by begging or by doing illegal activities. Though I have done a beautician course, I would like to pursue a driving profession," she said.
When her contract was terminated with the sanitary department of Thoothukudi Corporation (south zone), she got a job to drive a battery vehicle in 2019. She used to shuttle elderly and differently-abled people from the Thoothukudi-Tirunelveli national highway to the collectorate.
"My aim is to get a driving job in the government sector. I wish to apply for the Mahilir bus driver job, an exclusive service for women, when it is launched in Thoothukudi," she said.
Thoothukudi Collector Dr K Senthil Raj felicitated her for being the first transperson to obtain the licence in the district.
A transperson from Chennai and another one from Madurai had reportedly obtained the heavy vehicle licence in the past, making Suba Priya the third in the State.