Passion is what drives this woman

Women can't drive, goes the popular "wisdom". But Kandivli resident Sneha Kamat demolishes this male-centric version of taking the wheel. Kamat has been driving for the last 20 years. Three years ago, she decided to quit her lucrative job in the construction industry and follow her steering passion. She has since trained over 350 drivers.

"It's a stereotype that women can't drive. That's the notion every male holds, from driving instructors to the family guy. I wanted to prove them wrong and I took this up as a challenge," the 38-year-old self-confessed feminist says.

Kamat bets she will teach you driving a car within 10 days flat, and that too your own. She promises you will be able to drive through the narrow, congested lanes of the city with ease and aplomb, and also be street smart. But she put forward a condition: you have to be a woman if you want to learn from her.

According to her, many women drivers - barring her students, she asserts - have suffered a jolt in their confidence level because of constant discouragement from, not to mention bickering with, other motorists who tell them driving is just not anywhere down their alley.

"Most women who came to me for driving were already trained at driving schools. Yet, when it came to actually driving their own car around the city, they preferred taking the backseat. Furthermore, with women's safety being another issue, many are not comfortable receiving training from male instructors," says the mother of a seven-year-old daughter.

That's when Kamat comes into the picture. She doesn't make her students drive on empty roads in the dark hours. She takes them to the city's streets, mostly when they are at their busiest and crankiest.

"I tell my students it's okay if their cars stop at traffic signals and the cars behind them honk to death. The more it happens, the faster they will be able to learn," says Kamat, whose clientele ranges from collegians and homemakers to prominent celebrities.

At present, she operates from the city's west side, between Bandra and Dahisar, between 10am and 10pm every day.

Her course fees range from Rs8,000 to Rs10,000, but she say she does not not take money from her students if they have not learned driving in 10 days. "Till date, though, all my clients have been able to learn driving within 10 days," she says.

Kamat's students have a lot to say about her. Sunita Polar, who had tried learning from a male instructors, said, "Most hem do not even know how to talk to a woman. Sneha's approach is unique. More than the technical aspects, she focuses on building confidence and making you feel comfortable," Polar says.

Sulekha Thakur says she travelled every of the 10 days from Ghatkopar to Kandivli to learn driving from her. "It was a fun experience. I learnt it so fast and I am no more scared of BEST buses," Thakur said. Though given how the BEST drivers - all men - are known to drive, some fear is warranted.

Kamat doesn't want to stop here. She now aims at creating livelihood opportunities by training rural women to become driving instructors. She and her husband are actively looking for investors for setting up the start-up, to train women all across the country and the countryside.

"A woman should not be dependent on her husband, father, or any other male if she needs to go somewhere. She should be able to drive on her own," she says.