“When I started working in the 1980s, I used to be reluctant to go for deliveries. People would just stand on the streets and stare at me like they were watching a wedding procession go by. All this because a woman was seen working,” said Indrawati, Delhi’s first ‘lady postman’, a day before she retired on April 28.
Now, people smile when she passes by and greet her with the respect she craved for when she first started working for the Speed Post head office in Delhi’s Connaught Place. “Back in the 1980s, women usually preferred to stay indoors because people would often comment saying, “You’re a woman. Why do you need to work? Are you working because of financial constraints?” I used to hear all these comments, but never respond to anyone. When I first started going to people’s homes, they would say “see a little girl has come to deliver letters”, I used to feel weird then,” Indrawati recounted.
According to The Hindu, the first “woman postman” in India, K Pankajakshi Amma, joined her duties in the Trivandrum Medical College Post Office in 1959.
In a male-dominated profession, with no official gender-neutral term to address women, Indrawati and five of her colleagues have managed to hold their own for years. Joined by Kamala, Geeta and three others, Indrawati and the other ‘postwomen’ always had each other’s backs, be it around the office or with quick helpful tips to work on a specific route.
Walking for miles together with barely any breaks, tackling oglers, unfriendly pets and their owners, are just a few of the everyday battles the ‘postwomen’ overcome, making it sound easy. “I travel all the way from Sonepat. So I have to wake up at 4 am and make sure everyone is out of the house by 6 am so that I can catch the bus in time. Everyone helps as much as they can at home, but it’s difficult to manage when you have to spend so many hours away from home,” says Geeta, who has been working on the field as a postman for the last 20 years.
As Indrawati retired on April 28, she takes with her a bag full of love and respect that she has garnered over the years.
