“A single mother of three kids…”: After repeated cab cancellations, this Hyderabad ride took an unexpected turn

Two drivers cancelled. The third one finally picked up the ride.If you’ve ever tried booking a cab in a city like Hyderabad, you know the drill. You wait. One cancels. Then another. You’re half-ready to give up when someone finally accepts. But this time, the screen showed something different.The driver was a woman.Suresh Kochattil shared the moment online later. He wrote about meeting Nandini, an Uber driver who’s been on the platform for about a year. She moved from Vijayawada to Hyderabad and is raising three kids on her own. Driving, she told him, helps pay for their schooling.The post took off. People called it inspiring. Some praised her grit. Others turned it into a feel-good story about women breaking barriers.But as it travelled across social media, it left behind a quieter question: why did something so normal feel so surprising?In Indian cities, women work everywhere—offices, hospitals, schools, and shops. But in jobs that mean long hours on the road, like cab driving or delivery work, you still don’t see many of them. So when someone does show up, it feels… different.There was nothing dramatic about the ride. No heated moment. No viral argument. Just a woman doing her job. And yet, that alone was enough to make the story go viral.It says a lot about how some kinds of work are still quietly seen as “men’s jobs.”More women are joining the workforce, slowly but surely. A lot of that is happening through flexible, informal work—small businesses, self-employment, and app-based jobs.The gig economy has exploded in the last few years. For many women, platforms like ride-hailing apps offer a way in when regular office jobs aren’t easy to access. The hours can be adjusted. The entry barrier is lower.For some, it’s not a dream job. It’s a practical choice.That flexibility comes with strings attached.Most gig workers don’t get fixed salaries, paid leave, or long-term security. Earnings depend on how many rides you get, your ratings, and how the app’s rules change over time. It’s work that keeps you going but rarely lets you relax.For women, there’s more to juggle—safety concerns, long shifts, family duties, and money worries all rolled into one.A lot of work still happens behind closed doors.Women spend far more time than men on unpaid care—cooking, cleaning, and looking after kids or elderly family members. That shapes what kind of jobs they can take and how long they can work outside the home.So when women pick flexible work, it’s often not because it’s ideal. It’s because it fits around responsibilities that don’t show up in job data or headlines.Millions of women across India are working in informal and app-based jobs every single day. Most of their stories don’t go viral.When one does, it’s usually because it fits a familiar storyline—struggle, courage, doing it all alone. These stories matter, but they also risk turning real, messy lives into neat little inspiration posts that we scroll past and forget.Things are changing. There are more schemes, more platforms, and more talk about skills and jobs. But access to basics—childcare, safe transport, healthcare, and affordable loans—still decides who gets to work and who doesn’t.So yes, there’s progress. But it’s uneven. And it’s slow.Nandini’s story, shared in a few lines online, reflects a much bigger shift. People moving cities for work. Families trying to keep up with rising costs. Workers are choosing flexibility over security because they don’t have many other options.All of this is happening quietly, every day.The buzz around one Uber ride is really a reminder of how rarely we stop to notice it.Maybe real change will be when seeing a woman behind the wheel doesn’t feel surprising at all.Disclaimer: The details about Nandini are based on a social media post and have not been independently verified by The Times of India.Thumb image: X