There is no denying that majority of the people still refuse to acknowledge that gender imbalance in our society. Women often find it difficult to make a sizeable impact as there are many factors – gender bias being one – that limits their potential.
OneĀ 19-year old, Aisha Siddiqua from Karachi is hoping to break the gender stereotype by becoming a female courier, a job that has traditionally fallen on the male segments of the society in our part of the world.
Even at her young age, she just wants to pave the path for others like her.
About Aisha
Ever since Aisha cleared her Higher Secondary School Certificate in Commerce, she has been collecting packages and delivering them for a courier company for past two months.
Aisha’s mother works as a banker whereas her father is a lawyer by profession. Speaking about her parents, Aisha said:
Young women often donāt get support from their families owing to prejudices but I was lucky enough to have parents and siblings who boosted my morale.
What Motivated Her?
Aisha revealedĀ that she had never thought about becoming a courier but what motivated her was the fact that she had never seen a woman or a girl delivering mail or packages across town.
She contemplated but could not understand why every company had men as couriers. It was then when she finally decided to apply. She added:
I went through rigorous training, because the whole system is digitized and one error can disrupt operations elsewhere, because couriers in other parts of the world rely on us.
‘People Receiving Parcels From Me Mostly Get Shocked’
Aisha’s typical working day starts at 9 am sharp. Her first step of daily work includes sorting out the packages beforehand, which are to be delivered a little after 12 pm.
After delivering items, she picks up consignments that are to be sent from the city to other places and then her shift ends, at 7 pm.
Aisha usually operates in the posh Clifton and DHA areas in Karachi. However, that doesn’t limit her as she also covers areas such as Gulshan-e-Iqbal in the sprawling metropolis.
People receiving their parcels mostly get shocked because they donāt expect to see a girl, but many women have inquired about my job and some have even shown an interest in becoming couriers themselves.
As opposed to men delivering items on the bike, Aisha makes her trips in a car accompanied by a driver.
Iāve just started, so Iām happy that Iāve at least taken a step. I do know how to drive, and if need be, Iād drive around as well because now Iām able to design the route according to our deliveries.
I wonāt mind riding a motorbike either, because I think while thereās a chance of encountering an unpleasant situation on the road, I feel Iād be able to handle those who might want to bother me or try to get in my way.
Aisha hopes that women riding motorcycles and delivering packages around the country will become a common sight.
be careful, words like these in the workplace often end up in the Harassment hearings with HR!
His comment is deleted.
rightly so!
This is all you have seen in the article. You could have praised her courage and effort rather than looks.
Pakistani women is full of inferiority complex… I have not seen a single women progressing without man support and mostly undue favors… When they study cant study without boys… At job cant survive without male colleague help… Do job but not B Job…!!
They have been oppressed and suppressed for centuries, every year 5000 women are killed in the honor. We men have to step up and give them helpful hand to progress.
May be you’re just living in a different Pakistan.
You probably work under a woman.
Company gave her car with driver to deliver packages?
Loooooool!
lol good publicity stunt from the courier company. but I really can laugh at the situation where a girl is put in car for no reason other than publicity while driver himself can deliver the packages :D
“while driver himself can deliver the packages”
Nope. That’s inefficient. My cousin used to worked with TCS as a delivery guy and he just delivered the packages while driver navigated around the city.
You go girl!
Just to emphasize how badass this is on her part, even in developed countries girls are reluctant of choosing delivery guy jobs because of sexual harassment and other hurdles. And she’s just 19! More power to her and I hope she succeeds in life.
Yeah, our own dwindled definition of SUCCESS. We all see but fail to see how SUCCESSFULLY western counties have been able to achieve this! May Allah guide us all
Yeah, right. Let’s put all the burden of our own failures on the West. I think West has better things to do than spending resources on a country that’s already destroying itself.
Love the positivity!
A good move…motivation for females of Pak.
breaking the stereotype, with the help of a male driver