That appearances can be deceptive holds true in Delisha Davis’s case. Her plaited hair, gold chain and bindi give nothing away. The 23-year-old is the first Indian woman to get a licence to transport hazardous cargo—mostly tankers carrying petrol or diesel. She had been at the wheel for four years, ferrying 8,000 litres of petrol every day, on Kerala’s roads. Recently, she became the first Indian woman to get an international licence to transport hazardous cargo in the United Arab Emirates.
“I have been crazy about driving ever since I was a child. I have been accompanying my father, a tanker truck driver, since I turned 10,” said Delisha, who did her master’s in finance.
When Delisha requested her father, P.V. Davis, to teach her to drive a tanker, he had only one condition—do not drive like women as most of them are bad drivers, he told her. “I wanted her to drive like men,” said Davis. “Delisha said that she would drive better than most men.” And, she does.
Delisha’s mother, Treesa, however, was not too enthused about Delisha becoming a driver. She was worried about what people would say. Her eldest of three daughters is a nurse, and the youngest a lab technician. “I took the licence without my mother’s knowledge. She used to think that I was working as an assistant to my dad,” said Delisha. So when Davis told her that it was Delisha who was driving the fuel tanker, Treesa almost fainted.
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Initially, Delisha had to battle patriarchal mindsets. Seeing a woman behind the wheel, some would suddenly stop their vehicle in front of the tanker, some would hoot. And, there were some who would say that it was Davis, and not Delisha, who was driving the tanker. “There is a notion that women are bad drivers,” she said. “I wanted to prove that notion wrong. Driving a fuel tanker is certainly tough. But if I can do that, any woman can.”
Delisha came into the limelight during the first lockdown, when a vehicle inspector stopped the tanker seeing a young girl behind the wheel. When she showed her licence, the police said that this should make it to the news as it would encourage other women, too.
Driving a hazardous vehicle requires special training. To get the licence in the UAE, Delisha had to train for three months. “As it is an international licence, she will be able to drive tankers anywhere in the world,” said Davis, proudly. She will be driving an 18-wheel tanker there, carrying 60,000 litres of petrol, he added.
Was he never worried about his daughter taking up this profession? “I knew she was capable, so I had no worries on that front,” said Davis. “But my wife did worry about what society would say about a girl of marriageable age driving a tanker. But I convinced her that daughters are not meant to be confined within the four walls of a house.”
But what Treesa feared came true. “Many marriage proposals did not work out when they came to know about her profession,” said Davis. “But Delisha insisted that she would only marry someone who is supportive of her career choice.”
Delisha’s decision seems to have paid off. Marriage proposals have been pouring in ever since she got the job in the UAE. “A strong and capable daughter is far better than having 10 sons,” said Davis, beaming.