Deepali Amrit Khalkho takes charge of the Ranchi-Lohardaga train in Ranchi on Friday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, May 2: Deepali Amrit Khalkho has chugged her way into a male-dominated profession that will now allow her to drive home thousands of passengers everyday.

The 30-year-old has been accepted in the Ranchi railway division as its first woman driver.

“I had wanted to do something different right from my childhood. I wanted to be a role model for my sisters,” said Khalkho, who believes her breakthrough has opened new avenues for women.

The state has only two other women train drivers, who are under the Chakradharpur division.

But Kharagpur and Adra divisions also have some women drivers, claim officials.

Khalkho’s journey of becoming a train driver was laborious indeed. A former student of BSL High School, Bokaro, she completed her higher studies at Ranchi Women’s Polytechnic College before appearing for the Indian Railways exam.

She had to go through rigorous physical training, like her male counterparts at camps in Kharagpur.

Though she had qualified for the same post in the Allahabad railway division, she was determined to join the Ranchi division and hence appeared for another examination conducted by the Ranchi Railway Recruit-ment Board.

“A driver has to be physically fit and I am,” said the confident Khalkho, as she took charge of the Ranchi-Lohardaga Express at the Ranchi railway station.

But she was scared on the first day. “Driving the mammoth Ranchi-Lohardaga passenger train on the first day did make me nervous. But now it has become a habit,” she said.

Though Khalkho comes from a traditional joint family in Prem Nagar (Kanke), she has a very supportive husband and in-laws.

“I am with her in her endeavour,” said Atit Khalkho, her husband.

Even as a professional train driver, Khalkho plays the role of a perfect mother. “Before coming to the station, I drop my children to school,” she added.

For Khalkho, life has changed tracks for the better.