The widow forced to carry luggage to earn a living: Maya, the sole porter in Ludhiana, carries bags for a few rupees to pay for her 12-year-old son
- Punjab’s first female railway porter forced to work after losing her husband
- Maya, 40, says she has to work to give her son an education
Hauling heavy luggage through rush-hour crowds eight hours a day was never Maya Devi’s idea of a job. However, after the sudden and tragic death of her husband, she was left with no choice.
Maya, 40, lost her husband Ram Kumar, a licensed train porter at Ludhiana station, in April this year. Since then, their world has never been the same.
“Perhaps it is my fate that I have to start over where my husband Ram Kumar left off,” she said stoically.
Maya, 40, is the only carrier in her town
Hard physical work like this was not what Maya had imagined
Porters must pass strenuous physical tests before being licensed
Maya was married to Ram Kumar in Redau Village, Sonepat District, Haryana 13 years ago and they have been living in a house owned by Ram Kumar near Jagraon Bridge ever since. The couple have one son, Guarav, who is 12 years old.
“In March 2012, a tragedy struck our family. My husband became ill and died in April.
“The initial shock of my husband’s death shook my world.
“But then I pulled myself together and decided to move on with life, not for me but for my son, for whom my husband had had many dreams,” she said.
Maya wants her son to study hard and achieve great things. If hard physical labor and long hours on Ludhiana’s busy platforms means her son can build a future for himself, then all the suffering of the past six months will not have been in vain.
Maya is pictured here with one of her many hundreds of customers at the train station
A few women apply for jobs on the channel’s platform, but Maya is the only one who has accepted a position at Ludhiana
Maya is determined to keep working to provide her son with an education
“I have no idea what fate has in store for me, but if I can raise my son and get him on his feet, I will have the satisfaction of being a good mother and of having fulfilled my husband’s wishes as well.” She said.
Although Maya only started working as a porter in November, her initial apprehension about approaching disembarking passengers has now turned into a visible sense of confidence.
However, there is no doubt that the sight of a woman carrying heavy luggage remains alien to regular passengers.
Being a porter is not an easy job. It requires a rigorous physical test to get an official license.
Senior Division Commercial Manager MM Singh said there is no gender bias in hiring women as porters.
For whatever reason, women generally don’t apply for jobs.
“During fitness tests conducted a few months ago at several major stations to recruit licensed porters, quite a few women showed up and some of them passed the fitness test. But none of them showed up at the time of final recruitment,” he said.
Mr Singh said it was not customary to give the jobs to family members after the death of a porter for compassionate reasons.
Maya should have gone through the same testing and hiring process as everyone else.
“The railway officials must have done the same to recruit Maya in place of her husband,” Mr Singh added.
