Every morning, 33-year-old Poonam Devi sends her teenage daughters off to school in Jaipur, exchanges her sari for her uniform of salwar kameez, a more practical outfit consisting of a long shirt with baggy pants, and begins her day’s work in a bright pink electric auto rickshaw. Even today, people in this city joke that it is easier to spot a leopard in the nearby jungle than it is to see a woman driving one of the three-wheeled beasts so ubiquitous on its crowded roads, so she attracts more than her fair share of attention. “I’ve been driving this auto since 2018,” Poonam says.
“I’ve been driving this auto since 2018,” Poonam says. “People still stare at me. ” But it is worth it, she says: “A woman in a traditional Rajasthani home is usually just confined to her home and neighborhood.
” But it is worth it, she says: “A woman in a traditional Rajasthani home is usually just confined to her home and neighborhood.