Bengaluru Auto Driver Teaches Women to Drive for Free

When Jancy B V first sat behind the wheel of an auto-rickshaw in 2016, she never imagined she'd one day help dozens of other women do the same. Today, the 33-year-old Bengaluru mother drives her own auto and trains women for free, turning her hard-won independence into a gift for others.

Jancy's journey to the driver's seat started in hardship. Her father's death when she was 12 left her mother as the sole breadwinner, earning just 5,000 rupees a month as a domestic helper and construction worker. Watching her mother's endless struggle planted a seed: Jancy's children would have a different life.

At 16, she left school and started working in a garment factory, sewing zippers onto trousers under relentless pressure. Years later, she and her husband tried running a tea stall, but income remained uncertain. Then in 2016, her husband made a simple suggestion: learn to drive the auto to help with errands and school runs.

With patient guidance during quiet hours at the tea stall, Jancy learned to navigate the rickshaw. Her first day earning fares brought in 700 rupees and a revelation: she could actually do this. By 2018, she had her commercial license and was driving for Uber.

Learning Bengaluru's chaotic roads meant stopping frequently to ask for directions. But with each trip, her confidence grew. After years of factory schedules that controlled every minute of her day, she finally had freedom to choose her own hours and build her own earnings.

Now Jancy starts her days at 5:00 am, preparing breakfast before her morning school runs. Between drop-offs and pick-ups, she takes regular fares across the city. But her most meaningful work happens when she's teaching other women to drive.

Word spread through her community about the woman auto driver who was willing to train others. Women began approaching her, hoping to gain the same independence she'd found. Jancy teaches them for free, passing along the skills her husband once taught her.

Sunny's Take

What makes Jancy's story so moving isn't just her own triumph over poverty. It's that she's using her success as a ladder for others to climb. Every woman she trains gains the ability to earn her own income, support her family, and experience the freedom that comes with self-reliance.

Her auto has become more than transportation. It's a classroom, a symbol of possibility, and proof that one person's empowerment can spark a chain reaction of change across an entire community.