A burqa-clad woman steering an autorickshaw through a chock-a-block Hyderabad street offers a vibrant glimpse into the shifting strands of patriarchy built around the ubiquitous three-wheeler, where women are relegated to the passenger seat.

The humble autorickshaw is now the symbol of women’s emancipation with at least nine women, who lived in purdah or rarely ventured out of their homes, smashing the glass ceiling to occupy the driver’s seat.

Arshya Fatima, 35, who was dumped by her husband for giving birth to three daughters, is a picture of untrammelled womanhood as she takes her seat, turns the ignition of her electric auto and zips away into the busy traffic.

Fatima proudly calls herself a “single parent” and lives with her mother in acrammed Charminar locality.

“I was married off when I was in Class 8 and dropped out of school.

The burden of teen pregnancy and domestic violence left me scarred.

Now, I earn enough to pay school fees of my daughters and lead a life of dignity.

I know the risks involved in taking on a man’s world, so I ferry passengers in a 5km radius of the Charminar,” she said.

Fatima was a cloth saleswoman and earned a pittance, before she heard about the ETO autos at the Moghulpura charging hub and that proved to be a gamechanger.

Fatima’s traumatic past finds an echo in other women drivers too.

While Sahiba, 30, and Ruksana Begum, 40, became widows early in life and were forced to do odd jobs to raise their family, others were castaways of broken families or deserted by their husbands.

They are all survivors, buoyed by hope and courage.And the spark was lit by state’s first tribal woman commercial pilot, Azmeera Bobby, who’s spearheading the campaign of women’s empowerment in conjunction with ETO Motors.

Born in a Banjara family in Adilabad, she wallowed in poverty before charting her flight to glory.Nafeesa Khatoon, 25, a resident of Sultan Shahi, was forced to move to her mother’s house with her three children after being driven out by her alcoholic husband, who hasn’t since visited her once, but steadfastly tried to block access to her Aadhaar and documents to get a driver’s licence.

Nafeesa, however, finished her training at the Kacheguda ETO and is unshackling norms to be financially independent.

“Initially, I won’t venture far and will ply women passengers only,” she says with a smile.

Three other feisty women in the fleet, Ruksana Begum, Shanthi and Naseem Khatoon, discover a certain legitimacy and power in their unbridled mobility as they ferry commuters to Hi-Tech City, Tolichowki and Banjara and Jubilee Hills.

While Naseem, 32, has been driving for over a fortnight after completing her training on Darassalam grounds, Ruksana, 40, travels from Lower Tank Bund to Miyapur, where she earns more.

In halting English, Naseem calls herself a “strong girl” and hasn’t faced taunts or gender discrimination so far, Ruksana’s life, however, has been a steep, treacherous climb.

She worked as a maid, washing dishes and mopping floors in hospitals, after her husband died, till the humbleauto pulled her out of the debris of a harsh night.

“My passengers are surprised to see a woman in the driver’s seat.

In fact, they provide ‘himmat’ (courage) and some take selfies with me.

I am doing what was till now unthinkable in a man’s world,” she says.Diminutive Shanthi, 28, barely weighs 31kg, but she drives with elan and confidence.

Youngest in the women’s auto fleet, Shanthi lives in Golnaka, Amberpet, and has been a miracle girl who turned adversity into a success story after her husband abandoned her for giving birth to a girl.

So are Manga, 38, of Malkajgiri and B Anita, 30, of Kacheguda, who want to be role models for women, who seek to break the shackles and drive towards self-reliance.But none of these powerpuff girls can do without Gorenkella Meena, 41, the fulcrum of the fleet and their SOS woman in case of a vehicular breakdown.Meena, who once drove heavy tractors in her Warangal village and a retail firm’s cargo vehicle, is swift to dispatch a maintenance team if any driver is stuck or stranded.

Meena always wears a smile on her face, despite having a bed-ridden husband, critical domestic issues and mounting debts.Captain Azmeera Bobby piloting auto inspirationShe’s India’s first commercial woman pilot from the Banjara tribe and is the prime mover of the women’s auto initiative.

Born into poverty in Adilabad’s Dandepally, she would wake up to water dripping from thatched roofs during the monsoon and fi ght the stigma of being a Lambadi at school.

Yet she didn’t stop dreaming and rose from the brink to become a cockpit woman.

Now, she has fastened her seat belt to reciprocate and pay back to society through women’s upliftment in various sectors.

“I wish to express my gratitude to ETO Motors, who initiated women empowerment by providing livelihood and fi nancial security to driver partners through their 3E model,” said Azmeera, who handholds underprivileged girls to drive electric autos, which they get at no cost.

A TedX speaker, Azmeera is breaking taboo, unshackling women to rise like a phoenix, the way she did at her remote hamlet.