Curl up & file your nails in this taxi

"It's my mourning period as I lost my husband a month ago. But rather than sitting at home, I turn my business into a success story," says Revati Roy, 47, who started Forsche - a taxi service "run by women for women" - on March 8.

Sitting pretty in her white car, Roy plans to introduce the first batch of 25 such taxis on the road by March 15.  Dressed in her uniform — a purple-pink salwar kameez — colour co-ordinated with the logo of this service, Roy took this correspondent on a ride to her Worli Sea Face office. A mother of three sons aged 21, 18 and 11, Roy jokes that her children complained about her bias towards women. "My son actually asked me why I was doing this injustice especially if a woman is travelling with her husband. I told him that the girl will have to dump her boyfriend to travel in this taxi," she winks.

While this service is meant by women for women, it will essentially take care of tourists or women travellers who can spend quality time visiting the city without being duped by the local taxiwallahs. Talking serious business, Roy claims, "The taxiwallahs won't have a problem with my business as I have not introduced a 'hail a taxi' service. Mine would entirely be a commercial entity wherein passengers will have to book the cab either for half day or an entire day."

Moreover, Roy has also tied up with several five star hotels in the city who would hire this service for foreign tourists. "Foreigners will appreciate this service as they can file their nails while curling up with a magazine in my taxi. They can also shop wherever they want as the woman driver would be well-versed not only with the city roads but also with shopping malls and complexes," she says.