Hawa Mahal. The iconic symbol of Jaipur  the pink city of India. Many tourists from all over the world visit the 18th century palace every year. Each time i come to Jaipur i visit the Winds Cafe opposite the Palace and drink Chai and gaze at the view from the roof top opposite And each time I have seem to take the same timeless picture of the beautiful palace. But it’s quite different for Renu. A middle-aged woman born in Jaipur, after spending half her life in the city, she had not seen the Hawa Mahal before she became a driver with the Pink City Rickshaws! 

That is how i met Renu when I discovered a wonderful project that allowed me to see the city from a completely different angle The Pink City Rickshaw Company was founded as a not for profit organisation to offer an employment opportunity to 200 low income women from the slums of Jaipur. In the beginning when the idea was being formulated there were no takers in the slums of Jaipur, where the project was intended to start. To many families  the idea of the women of the house riding an e-rickshaw on the rough streets of the dirty showing around visitors too much to digest. And to make things worse, there was no female driver to train the women!

After quite a lot of effort on the ground, a male e-rickshaw driver got ready to train his wife to become the first driving instructor. And the rest is history! One led to another and more. The rest is history as they say. Now they are equity stakeholders in the company and proudly own and manage their E-Rickshaws. 

When ever i visit the city i always take a trip with them whether it be the gully’s and back streets, or the main sites… its always a joy to see Renu again and sometimes her daughter hops on for a ride after school too!