This woman coach in Delhi-NCR is teaching hearing-impaired women to drive

She holds a master's degree in economics and for the last two decades remained a stay-at-home mom to three girls. Meet Seema Sinha (50) now a full-time driving coach who is helping women beat their fears about driving. 

A resident of Gurgaon, Seema is part of Vandana Suri’s team of women coaches at Taxshe, a startup that offers women-driven cabs and driving classes for women in India. Seema teaches women in Noida, Delhi, and Gurgaon. What sets Seema apart from other coaches is that she has also taken up opportunities to help women with hearing disabilities to become confident behind the wheel and gain freedom of mobility.

“I have been a stay-at-home mother for two decades. Out of choice, I quit my budding corporate career to raise my three daughters. Modesty aside, I did a fine job as the girls are doing exceedingly well in their chosen fields and are fine human beings.  In my mid-forties, I experienced a major existential crisis as all the ambitions that I had put on the back burner started gnawing at me. I had to lose a part of myself so that I could focus on the 'be all and end all of my existence', my family! But now I wanted to regain that lost self and so, set out on a journey of not only finding myself but rediscovering myself,” says Sinha.

It was her search for a way to make a difference that led her to connect with Vandana Suri. “When I got to know what she does, I decided to be a part of her journey as I am a passionate driver and I consider it among one of my best skill sets,” Sinha said.

“Taxshe is about women enabling women drivers. As a woman, I bring empathy in the driving system. The experience is both empowering and liberating. Financial independence is important for women and driving skills add to that sense of freedom,” Sinha adds. Seema teaches women in a wide age group from 18 to 70. “It is never too late to add a skill. But my biggest victory has been training women with disabilities. They needed freedom from dependence more than anyone else!” she adds.  

“A woman who has difficulty hearing will not be able to pick up driving like any other person. She needs to be taught in a different manner – like how to tune into the vibrations of the car to understand how to change gears and such things. I have taught such women and they are driving confidently now,” she adds.

“The way I see Seema, she is someone who has the grit to collect and put back all the drifting pieces in life.  She is someone who loved to drive and becoming a coach gave her a different purpose in life.  She, just like any other woman, knows the value of freedom and safety for all of us, and what better way to give this to more women,” Vandana Suri, founder, Taxshe, said.

According to Suri, Taxshe has trained over 500 marginalised women over the past eight years and over the last year, has trained 1200 women to drive, across India.  

Taxshe has been awarded by the World Bank in 2019 and has been chosen for a special felicitation on March 17, in New Delhi by the UNDP.