[Monday Motivation] How this tribal woman from Kerala is making a name in the male-dominated plumbing field

“Life is like riding a bicycle; to keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

The words of Albert Einstein summarise the story of 37-year-old Shailaja Ayyappan, who raised four daughters alone after her husband left her. She rose above societal stereotypes to support her family during a financial crisis, and plumbing became her means of livelihood.

Having worked as a sweeper and cook, Shailaja tells SocialStory that she always wanted to do something different. When her husband abandoned her with four young daughters, she tried her hand at some odd jobs but could not make ends meet.

A school dropout, Shailaja belongs to the Kadar tribe, a primitive tribal community in Sholayar in Athirappilly, Kerala. The area is forest-like, with the nearest town, Chalakudy, 65 km away. So, finding a job that suited her palette was a task, but she took up odd jobs due to financial constraints.

That is when Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, came to her rescue. The organisation was in search of women and children in her area to help them get skilled in various fields under the Skill India campaign.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Skill India campaign aims to train over 30 crore people in India in different skills by 2022. It provides vocational training to non-literates as well as school dropouts in rural regions.

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A new start

“When Thankamma V, the former president of the Athirappilly Grama Panchayat, told me about vocational training courses given by the JSS, I did not think much and joined soon. I had a keen interest in studying the course and learnt it quickly,” says Shailaja.

Shailaja and her daughters took full training in plumbing from the Skill India mission. Shailaja is now a sought-after plumber in the area. “I earn at least Rs 5,000 a month. One of my daughters is married, one employed, and the others are studying. I can now lead a dignified life,” she says.

The JSS selected 20 people, including Shailaja, from the Sholayar tribal colony in 2020-21 for a three-month course.

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship honoured her on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022 for breaking the gender bias by working in a male-dominated sector.

Shailaja was among the four women in the country and the only one from Kerala who received the honour. Others were from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi.

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Fighting gender roles constraints

Shailaja admits that women in her area rarely get employed in jobs such as plumbing. Even after completing the course, only a few of her batchmates had gone to the field to take up the work.

“After finishing the course, we started to get jobs from nearby colonies. Many people raised their eyebrows when I joined the course and started working. Many even questioned my capability–as it is not common to see women doing these jobs. But it is a ray of hope for me to make a living and raise my children,” says Shailaja.

It's been one year since she started working as a plumber. Although she hasn't got big construction contracts yet, she does repair and installation work in homes.

“As the Kadar tribal colony has been covered by a government drinking water project, the majority of houses have drinking water connections. A trained plumber is difficult to find in the area. I am doing the work for them at a very minimal charge,” she adds.

She adds that she has receives up to 10 plumbing works a month at times. But being a woman, it is sometimes a concern for the people to call her for the work.

“But whenever I get one, I do it with all my sincerity. From digging to cutting pipes, I do everything on my own,” says Shailaja.

An illiterate, Shailaja is grateful to have learnt the plumbing course. She does not want the skill she has learned to go to waste, and wants to continue to work as a plumber going forward.