MANJUBEN, TRUCK DRIVER
52 mins, Gujarati and Hindi with English subtitles, 2003
Directed by Sherna Dastur
Produced by Sehjo Singh

India ’s only female truck driver wants to travel and be free. And she has found a way to live the life she wants

Screened as part of Vikalp: Films for Freedomorganised by OPEN SPACE in Pune, July 31 - August 29, 2004

Dastur’s film takes us on the road with Manju-ben as she drives her truck, just like her male counterparts, from Gujarat to Delhi . The monotony of the road and the incessant roar of the diesel engine inside the truck’s cabin do more to depict the harsh reality of the trucker’s life than the pit stops on charpais in dhabas along the way. But we also see Manju-ben off the road, having her picture taken in a studio, hanging an oleograph of Shiv-Shakti on her wall (a gender combination that she identifies with), running her office, sharing time-off with a woman friend. Manju-ben is a courteous driver and a conscientious one too, having her truck attended to regularly and under her supervision.

Recently, in another documentary film (Paromita Vohra’s Unlimited Girls), we met Bombay ’s only woman taxi driver. Now prepare to meet Manju-ben, truck driver and owner of a fleet of ten trucks, a business that she developed on her own, not one that she inherited. Here are women working in a man’s world, more so than the rest of us.

The first thing that strikes you about both the women is the fact that they have chosen to cut their hair short and dress like men. As they both say of themselves, until they speak, the other person has no idea that they are something other than what they appear to be, i.e., men. The “disguise” is practical, but as we get to know Manju-ben better, and watch as she has her haircut, massage and shave, we have to acknowledge that there is more going on here than a simple, professional choice. Dastur is delicate rather than intrusive about Manju-ben’s sexual preferences. That is of little consequence: what matters is that this is a woman doing an uncommon job in a common circumstance, a woman’s desire for financial independence.

Manju-ben was traditionally married, but divorced her husband because she did not want to play the role of a wife, she wanted to travel and be free. She does not see being a woman truck driver as particularly significant, after all, there are women pilots and more. Driving a truck is travelling, but her vacation time is also spent going to new places with her women friends. In the one scene where we see her with a companion, Manju-ben expresses the same frustration of dividing her time between earning and spending money, as anyone else would.

Though Manju-ben does not make heavy weather of her profession, it is clear that she is self-conscious as a person. Not only has she had herself photographed regularly in various poses, she uses these photos on her annual Diwali cards. The pictures and this film show her for what she is, a remarkably independent young woman who has found a way to live the life that she wants.

For more information, contact: sherna@vsnl.com

InfoChange News and Features, August 2004