Crimes against women may be rising in the city, but Bengaluru's first food delivery girl who juggles two jobs to make ends meet says she has nothing to fear.
At 23, Venda works as a home nurse in the morning and night and delivers food on her bike for five hours during the day. Not one to give up her passion, she is pursuing studies to become a history teacher.
"Things at home turned bad five years ago as the Rs 10,000 my father and mother earned was not sufficient. After marrying off my elder sister, they needed my support. I finished pre-university and decided to join my mother by becoming a home nurse," she said.
Venda, who grew up with a love for biking, worked three years to buy her Honda Activa. She attached her vehicle to Rapido, an app-based bike taxi aggregator. She looked for more opportunities to work as her bike taxi did not get many hires.
A city-based food aggregator rejected her application. “They were worried about safety and said they ‘did not want to take risk’,” Venda said.
By the time she got a call from rival Jugnoo, a Chandigarh-based aggregator providing services ranging from last mile transportation to food delivery, Venda had travelled across the bylanes of Bengaluru searching for a job.
“Searching for jobs helped discover shortcuts in the city. I avoid traffic to save time for studies. I am pursuing BA to study history, Tamil and English. I want to become a history teacher,” Venda said.
Sabarish Nambiar, the Bengaluru operations manager of Jugnoo, said he came to know about Venda through her work in Rapido. “It’s been a month since we hired her and we have received a positive response from both the hotels and the customers,” he said.
“Women have entered all kinds of fields today. Why can’t I do more? (Former President) Abdul Kalam said dreams are those that keep you awake. It doesn’t matter how much work I do. I will reach my goal,” she said.
When asked about safety, Venda she has not faced risks as she works outdoors during the day. “I hope there will come a time when women can work anytime,” she added.