this Indian woman Holds A license to drive 11 vehicles

From JCBs to excavators, and from cranes to road rollers, septuagenarian Radhamani Amma is authorised to drive it all. Here is the remarkable story of the woman who broke all driving stereotypes like a pro.

71-year-old Radhamani Amma in action

As a 17-year-old bride when J Radhamani, came toThoppumpady from Kochi, little did she know that she would create history by becoming the first woman in Kerala to obtain a heavy vehicle license, and ultimately learn to drive at least 11 vehicles. Looking as serene as any other indulgent grandmother, she is among the very few persons in the whole world, who can operate an excavator, forklift, and crane, and drive a road roller, tractor, trailer, bus, and lorry. She also has a four-wheeler, three-wheeler, and two-wheeler license. Today, she is perhaps the only woman in India to hold a license for 11 vehicles at the age of 71.

So how did it all begin? The first vehicle Radhamani learned to drive was a car, for which she got a license as a 30-year-old in 1981. Radhamani's husband TV Lalan ran a driving school in Thoppumpady in the 1970s. Later he decided to teach students how to drive heavy vehicles in his A-Z Driving School. Encouraged by her husband, she got her first license for both a bus and a lorry in 1988. For this, she drove a bus from Thoppumpady to Cherthala covering 33-odd km, where the heavy vehicle licensing authority was based at the time. And thus began her journey.

But let's not forget, that this was happening in the 80s. So Radhamani's journey was not starved of challenges. Starting with people in the neighbourhood, many were surprised at the sight of her driving a car and moving around. Radhamani recalls that many people made fun of her back in those days. Even to date, she doesn't have a license for a tower crane. Why? Climbing up to the cabin of a tower crane, she says, is not easy, especially in a sari. Her sari also made it difficult to learn how to ride a bicycle.

In the coming years, she gradually obtained two three-wheelers licenses. Her two-wheeler, although came comparatively late. Five years after getting a license for a lorry, she got a scooter in 1993. In her interviews with newspapers and media groups, she has revealed that her scooter is her favourite mode of transport. She still prefers it over a car, which she says comes into use only when there is a really pressing need for it.

Her husband passed away in 2004. Ever since Radhamani has taken command of her husband's legacy. The A-Z Driving School is now run by Radhamani, her two sons, daughter-in-law, and grandson. But in order to run a driving school, local laws mandate that the proprietors must themselves have a license for every vehicle they teach. So in the coming years, she began obtaining equipment licenses including those for a tractor, crane, forklift, road roller, and so on. The last vehicle license she obtained was in 2021. It is a hazardous license to drive vehicles carrying petroleum products.

After creating history in the field of driving, Radhamani Amma- the name she goes by these days, is now trying to get a diploma in automobile engineering.