Meet Kerala’s Most Fearless Woman Driver
“Back then, people were very curious and surprised to see a woman driving a heavy vehicle.”~ Mani Amma, Kerala’s Trailblazing Driver
In the misty hills of Ernakulam, Kerala, where coconut groves sway like whispers of tradition, a young Radhamani, affectionately called Mani Amma, grew up in a modest home. Born into a middle-class family, her father toiled with coir and coconuts, instilling values of resilience and quiet determination. Married just after Class 10, she navigated the rhythms of rural life, far from the roar of engines or the hum of highways. Driving? It was a distant dream, laced with fear.
That changed in 1978, when her husband, T.V. Lal, founded a driving school. Encouraged by his gentle nudge, Mani Amma gripped the wheel of an old Ambassador car for her first lesson. Her hands trembled; the road ahead seemed endless. “I was terrified,” she recalls with a soft laugh. But daily practice turned trepidation into triumph. By 1981, she earned her four-wheeler license. Three years later, in 1984, she shattered barriers as Kerala’s first woman to secure a heavy vehicle endorsement, piloting buses and tractors with steady grace.
Society stared. Whispers followed: “A woman behind the wheel of a crane? She shouldn’t be driving.” Undeterred, Mani Amma pressed on. With her husband, she expanded their school into A2Z Driving Institute, Kerala’s pioneering hub for heavy vehicles. They trained hundreds, proving that roads belong to the bold, not the bound by gender.
Tragedy struck in 2004, when Lal passed away. At 53, Mani Amma could have retreated. Instead, she seized the reins literally. Taking over the institute, she mastered 11 licenses: from sleek sedans and sports cars to formidable JCBs, excavators, forklifts, road rollers, and towering cranes. Now 74, she maneuvers these behemoths with the poise of a conductor, her saree fluttering like a flag of defiance.
Her story transcends the tarmac. Videos of her gliding a Rolls-Royce Ghost through Dubai’s boulevards have gone viral, amassing millions of views. Business icon Anand Mahindra hailed her “insatiable appetite for life.” The India Book of Records honored her with the “Inspirational Personality of the Year 2022” for holding the most licenses by a septuagenarian. Yet, Mani Amma remains humble, pursuing a mechanical engineering diploma and dreaming of piloting even rarer machines.
In a nation where women drivers are still novelties, Mani Amma is a legend. She doesn’t just drive vehicles, she drives change, empowering generations to rev past limitations. Age? Merely mileage. Fear? Fuel for the fearless. As she says, “It’s never too late to steer your destiny.”
