When just-retired Surekha Yadav climbed into the cabin of her first train in 1989, she wasn’t setting out to make history. She was simply taking up a government job that promised stability. Yet, over the next 36 years, she would become a quiet force of change, blazing a trail in one of India’s most male-dominated professions and showing, in her own words, that “machines don’t see gender.” Her story is more than a personal achievement; it is a powerful lens on how persistence, competence, and institutional support can reshape the gender landscape in India’s workplaces.

At a time when few women ventured beyond traditional occupations, Ms Yadav entered a field where she was literally the only woman in the training room. The railway engine cabin was an unlikely stage for a social shift, but it became one. She mastered the complex demands of train driving:........

© The Statesman