A woman who mans a rail gate

MARASUR, ANEKAL: "I close the gate five minutes before a train arrives at the railway gate. Just because I am a woman, many times motorists shout at me to open the door as they do not have the patience to wait. However, I talk to them and tell them how precious their life is," said 56-year-old Neela, who works as a gate woman with South Western Railway at Marasur. 

Hailing from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu, Neela and her husband Thirunavukarasu moved to Bengaluru 45 years ago. It was some 14 years ago that Neela bagged the job of a gateman. Neela has been working at Marsur gate for last seven years.

"We work in shifts - either 7am to 7 pm or 7pm to 7am. In each shift, 15 to 20 trains pass through this gate," she said. Neela does night shifts too. "I cannot afford to take a nap. If I sleep for a few minutes and do not close the gate, accidents could happen. I try to read something and stay awake," she said.

Neela, interestingly, has never been to school. During her stay at Byapanahalli, an NGO member came to her shed and taught her how to read and write. "That knowledge is helping me enter PNR numbers. So far I have no complaints against me and that itself is a compliment for me,'' she said.