: Fixing flat tyres, this Telangana woman breaks gender barrier #IndiaNEWS #Bhadradri Kothagudem Hyderabad: Yedalapally Adilaxmi of Telangana has managed to break the gender barrier to enter an area

Fixing flat tyres, this Telangana woman breaks gender barrier #IndiaNEWS #Bhadradri Kothagudem
Hyderabad: Yedalapally Adilaxmi of Telangana has managed to break the gender barrier to enter an area which is dominated by men.
The 31-year-old in a remote village in Bhadradri Kothagudem village has proved that women can do any work with willpower, determination and hard work.
At a small garage in Sujatha Nagar near Kothagudem town, she fixes flat tyres of not just motorcycles but also of cars, tractors and even trucks.
The mother of two helps her husband Bhadram in running the automobile repair shop and over the last five years has achieved expertise in repairing punctures and replacing tyres.
In her own words, people coming to the shop were initially reluctant as they did not believe that a woman can fix flat tyres. They were shocked to see a woman lifting the heavy tyres and doing the kind of work which is traditionally perceived to be the forte of men.
However, the expertise she has gained over the years with sheer hard work has today made her the go-to-woman for those looking for someone to fix a flat tyre.
It has not been an easy journey for Adilaxmi, the first woman mechanic of Telangana. She started helping her husband, who has experience in fixing punctures. She used to take care of the shop whenever her husband was out to attend offsite calls.
I always felt helpless and disappointed when customers used to come to the shop in his absence as I was unable to repair the punctures. I used to feel depressed by not attending to the jobs coming to our doorstep as we were losing income, said Adilaxmi.
The general perception that a woman cant handle this hard work was what spurred her to give it a try. I started thinking why cant I do it. I made a beginning with small things like filling air in the tyres and as my interest grew and I gained confidence, there was no looking back.
Keenly observing her husband fixing the flat tyres, she improved her skills. Initially she used to get tired after repairing four punctures a day. She is now confident of handling any number of jobs.
She believes that there is no work which women cant do. This only needs positive thinking and courage. One should take this up as a challenge. I feel that other women can do much better than me, she said.
Impressed by Adilaxmis work, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader and legislator K. Kavitha came forward to lend her a helping hand.
Kavitha, who is the daughter of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, last year invited her to Hyderabad and applauded her determination and the amount of hard work she has put in to support her family. Kavitha also provided her a tyre changing machine.
A couple of other organizations also donated her machines to make her job easier.