A single mother, 2 careers and a love for driving: Meet Mumbai cab driver Shobhna Avasthi

“I got excited to meet you after seeing your name [in the app],” Lahiri tells Shobhna at the beginning of the ride. “So good to see a lady driver.”

The two soon got talking, with Shobhna revealing that she had started driving cabs in June. What began as a way to earn a more stable income, however, was also a return to something she has loved since she was a teenager.

Shobhna is a single mother and also works as a freelance bridal makeup artist. But with makeup assignments not always guaranteed, she decided she needed another source of income.

“Our work is not regular. So I wanted to do something else. I did not want to sit at home, so I started this. Driving is my passion as well. I have been driving since I was 15 years old. I love driving,” Shobhna said.

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Speaking with indianexpress.com, Shobhna opened up about her journey, her work and what led her to become a cab driver.

“I still am a makeup artist. I was working as a freelance makeup artist, and I have worked for bridal clients and models. I have also done shoots,” she said.

Her love for driving, however, goes back much further. Shobhna learnt to drive from her father when she was 15 and has since driven a wide range of vehicles. “It has been a long passion. I learnt it from my dad when I was 15,” she said. Over the years, she estimates that she has driven around 80 different cars.

“There was a time when every six months, our car would change. I have driven all kinds of cars, from BMWs to Mercedes to SUVs,” Shobhna said.

Financial stability

Circumstances at home also influenced her decision to take up driving professionally. Her father developed physical health problems and had to undergo surgeries, eventually forcing him to retire. The change affected the family’s financial situation.

Shobhna had earlier lived in Chandigarh before moving to Mumbai. After relocating to the city, she enrolled at a makeup academy, completed her course and began working as a makeup artist. But despite having a profession she enjoyed, she felt she needed greater financial stability, especially as a single mother. “Being a single mother, I have a lot of things to look after. Financially, I have to be a lot stronger for that,” she said.

Makeup, she explained, can be unpredictable, with work depending on assignments and bookings. That eventually pushed her to look for another option. “Makeup is not something where the work is guaranteed. I thought, what else can I do? I thought about starting a business, but then I decided on driving,” she said.

Before making the decision, Shobhna spoke to her father. She says he was immediately supportive. “He is very broad-minded. He immediately told me, ‘You will be able to do it, I know you will,’ and I am doing it now,” she said.

For Shobhna, driving in Mumbai has also challenged some of the assumptions people have about women working behind the wheel. Rather than finding the city intimidating, she says she has felt safe driving there. “The best thing is that I have felt Mumbai is very safe for women,” she said.

Clash of two professions

But balancing two professions while raising a child as a single mother comes with its own set of challenges. One of the greatest difficulties is having to choose between a makeup assignment and a cab ride when the two clash. “Sometimes my makeup work takes a toll. If I am on a ride and I get a call for makeup, I need to cancel it because of the ride,” she said.

Finding enough time for family can also be difficult, Shobhna admitted, as her work often leaves her with limited time to spend with them.

Her experiences as a cab driver have also included some less pleasant moments. Asked about the challenges she faces on the road, Shobhna pointed to situations that drivers often have little control over. “Sometimes I get too much of a smell from my passengers as they are coming from a club, but I cannot stop them,” she said. “All I care about is that no one behaves rudely in the cab.”

Shobhna also hopes her work will help challenge the perception that women cannot be good drivers. “It is all because people form a perception based on one or two examples. Today, there are women pilots. People need to change their mindset,” she said.

The conversation between Lahiri and Shobhna resonated with viewers, many of whom shared their own experiences with the cab driver in the comments.

“It’s so beautiful to see two strong and beautiful souls having a conversation,” one user wrote.

“She is just amazing! I also had the privilege of being a rider in her cab. She is too pure and honest in her conversations. She is meant for bigger things in life. My best wishes for her to achieve everything she aspires to,” another commented.

“I’m also a cab driver. Good to see a woman also doing this work,” a third user wrote.

Another person shared their own experience, saying, “My friends and I had the best Uber ride with her! She was so warm and positive.”