top of page

By:

Akhilesh Sinha

25 June 2025 at 2:53:54 pm

Driving Change

Once trapped by poverty and abuse, Sufina found freedom behind the wheel — and now helps women travel safely across Delhi. The woman who once felt unsafe is now ensuring women travellers get home securely from Delhi’s airport, day or night. Among those providing this round-the-clock service is Sufina, a cab driver with the “Driven by Women for Women and Families” initiative. Sufina, who now offers peace of mind and safe journeys to female passengers, was once deeply troubled herself. But she...

Driving Change

Once trapped by poverty and abuse, Sufina found freedom behind the wheel — and now helps women travel safely across Delhi. The woman who once felt unsafe is now ensuring women travellers get home securely from Delhi’s airport, day or night. Among those providing this round-the-clock service is Sufina, a cab driver with the “Driven by Women for Women and Families” initiative. Sufina, who now offers peace of mind and safe journeys to female passengers, was once deeply troubled herself. But she refused to give up. Pulling herself out of hardship, she not only became self-reliant but also an inspiration for marginalised women in society. Partnering with the Sakha-Azaad Foundation, Sufina has scripted an extraordinary story. Sakha Consulting Wings launched this women-driven cab service for female passengers under the brand  Women with Wheels . All drivers, including Sufina, received training in driving and self-defence through the Azaad Foundation. Born Into Hardship Living in East Delhi’s Anand Vihar, Sufina was married to a daily wage labourer at just 16. By 18, she was a mother. Poverty was crushing; meals were often scarce. Desperate to escape this misery, she began searching for a way out. That was when she met a Sakha volunteer who suggested driver training. It became the turning point in her life. The road ahead, however, was anything but easy. Breaking Free Sufina was stepping into a male-dominated world, and it frightened her at first. Yet her hunger for financial independence gave her courage. In the early days, she faced strong opposition from both her husband and parents. Before leaving for work, her husband would beat her and lock her inside the room to stop her from attending training. But Sufina refused to surrender. Teaming up with her mother, she found a way out. After her husband left for work, her mother would unlock the door. Before he returned, Sufina would quietly slip back home to avoid more conflict. After completing her training, she worked as a private driver for nearly two years, continuing the same routine. As her earnings, confidence and independence grew, so did her assertiveness — and with it, her husband’s suspicion. One day, when he raised his hand again, Sufina fought back. She told him she would not tolerate it anymore. Shocked, he stopped. He never hit her again. Driving Change Sufina believes the turning point in her marriage came when her husband fell seriously ill. She admitted him to a private nursing home and paid for his treatment from her own savings. From then on, he began trusting her and valuing her work. Though the struggle had been painful, Sufina emerged stronger. She now asks a powerful question:  Why must a woman endure so much just to prove herself? Today, she is determined that her daughters should grow up with freedom and choice. In her community, she is respected and admired. Local girls and women see in her a path to self-reliance and dignity. The woman who once lived in fear now helps other women travel without it — and in doing so, she is driving change far beyond Delhi’s roads.

No gas, no gastronomic glitter

Dark shadow of shut down on Bhendi Bazar during Ramzan

Mumbai: Like a middle-age crisis, the Middle-East War has sparked a mid-Ramadan panic in Mumbai’s famed Ramzan street-food markets of Mohammed Ali Road and its surroundings, thanks to the near-invisibility of commercial LPG cylinders.

 

Barely a week before the grand build-up for Eid-ul-Fitr, there is concern among the hundreds of eateries, wayside stalls, seasonal carts and traditional hoteliers and disappointment among the lakhs of food freaks from Mumbai, outstation and even foreigners who throng here to indulge in wild nights of culinary delights.

 

“The crowds are still coming, but the gastronomic choices have significantly dwindled this week, particularly food items that require slow cooking, deep-frying, or constant heating. Some try to switch over to coal or firewood which is banned due to the pollution nuisance… We are somehow pulling on,” rued Khalid Hakim, owner of the 103-year-old Noor Mohammadi Hotel in Bhendi Bazar, told ‘The Perfect Voice’.


Hakim’s famous outlet boasts of the luscious ‘nalli-niharis’ introduced to Mumbai by his grandfather Abdulkarim Abdulhakim Shaikh some 85 years ago, and a road in the vicinity is named in the family’s honour. It was to this hotel that Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt had ‘gifted’ his signature crafted dish, ‘Chicken Sanjubaba’ that draws connoisseurs and celebs even today.


Eateries Down

Not all are lucky… At least two major diners, Shaheen and Paramount, shut shop this week and scores more await a ‘lifeline’ or may close down for the remainder of Ramadan, or till the LPG supplies normalize, as the Gulf War entered the 13th day.

 

Comprising Mohammed Ali Road, the iconic Minara Mosque precincts, the Bohri Mohalla, Nagpada, Bhendi Bazar, Dongri and other by-lanes teeming with the aroma of sizzling kebabs, bubbly malpuas, biryanis, pulaos, phirnis, faloodas, ice-creams and a host of other presentations in the month-long food carnival that awakens at sunset.

 

The Ramzan markets start work by afternoon, marinating meats, lighting stoves, preparing gigantic tavas or degdis or handis or grills or fryers to first cater to Muslims hungering for ‘iftar’ after the daylong fast, and soon taken over by the food buffs with the ‘khana-khazana’ continuing till the early next morning or ‘sehri’ time.

 

As most outlets are scrounging the bottoms of their LPG stocks, it has hit the Ramzan market and disappointing the foodies trooping in here daily with the drop in choices.

 

Limited Choices

Many outlets like Surti-12 Handi renowned for Bohri cuisines prepared for hours in earthen pots over slow burners, Tawakkal Sweets acknowledged for special desserts like piping hot-and-fresh ‘malpuas’ or ‘jalebis’ since over 75 years, Fakhri Farsan Mart for yummy fresh samosas, kachoris or crunchies, Shalimar or Delhi Durbar for rich Mughlai cuisine, Al-Madina fast foods or Sarvi hotel, etc.

 

As the summer roasts Ramzan ‘rozdars’ (the faithful who fast), there is a huge demand for cold desserts and ice-creams at the Taj Ice-Cream parlour – existing since nearly a century, though they rely on gas-based processes before being refrigerated.

 

The top Ramzan sellers like Bheja Fry, Baida Roti, Kaleji Tawa Fry, grilled kebabs/tikkas, multiple types of biryanis, pulaos, an array of chicken dishes that tantalisingly wait to be gorged and topped off with the warm or chilled desserts, ice-creams and cold drinks – most are now produced in limited quantities or as per the visible demand.

 

Collateral Damage

The Ramzan markets not only attract food-lovers but also boost the businesses of local stores filled with books, antiques, perfumes, dry-fruits, garments and jewellery, with dazzling colourful lights that add to the local festive buzz.

 

The Managing Director of ‘Love All-Serve All’, F. A. Ansari rued that it usually provides free Sehri and Iftar plates to the poor and needy in Ramadan, but this year they have stopped all fried items, dole out only fast-cooking chicken or veggies, owing to the LPG crisis which has gripped the festival economy that churns out crores of rupees of business.


Comments

bottom of page