Dabangg Lady: Here's How A Mumbai Woman Turned Her Life Around By Driving An Auto Rickshaw

Every now and then a few stories come to our notice that leave us with a warm heart and in an emotional state of mind. Sometimes, life takes such strange turns that we do not know how to react. A few people lose faith when faced with adversities but then there are those who make adversities their strength and move forward in life with more gusto. These are the people who become an inspiration to others in life. Such is the story of Mumbai auto driver Shireen.

The story of Shireen was shared by Humans of Bombay on their Instagram page. The post educated the world on what difficulties she had gone through and what all she had undergone to give her family a good life. Her story has now gone viral on social media. Shireen lost two people when she was relatively young. Both very close to her, one of them was her mother.

Shireen was born into an orthodox Muslim family and had seen her mother fight hard to fulfill Shireen’s wishes. After her mother’s first marriage failed, she remarried, and though it was difficult, she decided to move on in life.

The Death Of Shireen’s Mother & Sister Was A Tragedy

Even though Shireen’s mother got married for the second, the marriage was not successful. Following her second marriage, she faced a lot of taunts and criticisms from society. After one such terrible incident involving Shireen’s mother and brother, she set herself ablaze. Shireen lost her inspiration in life.

Few days after her mother’s death, their father got Shireen and her sister married. However, both their marriages were unsuccessful. Shireen’s sister was constantly harassed by her in-laws for dowry and was given poison while she was pregnant. Shireen had already lost two members of her family.

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Shireen’s Husband Divorced Her

After the birth of her third child, her husband refused to take care of her. All he wanted to do was sleep with her and when he was done with her, he gave her triple talaq. Shireen and her kids were left homeless.

A New Beginning

Shireen soon started a biryani stall, but that too was taken down by BMC. Her husband was a rickshaw driver and when she had no option, she took all her savings and decided to drive a rickshaw.

“I earned well, but a lot of people harassed me they’d abuse me, put me down, and doubt me simply because I’m a woman. Other rickshaw drivers used to even purposely bang into me and stop me from taking fares. But I didn’t let it bother me ever.”

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Shireen reveals that it has been a year since she started driving a rickshaw and her income keeps the house running. “I give my kids all that they ask for, on my own. I want to buy them a car and hope to do that soon. Even my passengers make me feel great, some clap for me, tip me well and even hug me!”

The Dabangg Lady

In the Instagram post, Shireen even recounts an incident when a man who sat in her rickshaw did not understand she was a woman and addressed her as ‘bhaiya’. But when he realized his mistake, he said she was a ‘Dabangg Lady’.

“That’s what I know I am, and I want other women to know that they can be one too!”

Shireen’s post concludes, “Women are capable of anything they don’t have to live by the rules of others. I don’t want anyone to suffer like my mother or my sister did. So with every passenger I take, every compliment I get and every wish I fulfill for my children -- I know I’m not doing it just for myself, but for every woman out there, suffering in silence."

The life of Shireen is an inspiration for all the suffering women out there who take their life reigns in their own hands and turn it into something positive and beautiful.