In her canary-yellow sari and gold earrings, with a pair of thin-framed spectacles perched on her nose, Surekha Yadav could be any woman stepping down from the train at Mumbai's main railway station.  But the 44-year-old mother-of-
two stands out from the crowds on the platforms at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus as she doesn't just travel on the trains -- she drives them.

當身穿鮮黃色莎麗服、配戴金耳環、鼻梁上架著一副細框眼鏡的蘇芮卡·葉達夫步出孟買火車站車廂時，她和其他女乘客也許沒什麼兩樣。雖然44歲的葉達夫已經是兩個孩子的媽，但她並非乘客而是駕駛火車的司機，這使她在查特拉巴蒂希瓦吉車站月台上的人群中顯得與眾不同。

Yadav was the first female passenger train driver on Mumbai's Central Railways and has become a standard-bearer for women in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

葉達夫是孟買中央鐵路第一位女性客運列車司機，並因此成為打破傳統由男性主宰的行業的開路女先鋒。

Since she first jumped into the cab of Mumbai's packed commuter trains 10 years ago -- attracting curious looks from commuters -- one other "motorwoman" now plies the same suburban route. There are also women train drivers on the Western Railway network, ferrying many of the six million people who use the city's overstretched network every day.

自從10年前首次跳上塞爆孟買的火車的駕駛室，並引來乘客好奇眼光以來，現在已經有另一位「女司機」行駛同一條郊區路線。西部火車網也有駕駛列車的女司機，每天輸運孟買600萬人中無數使用早已超過負荷的火車網路。

Yadav, who admitted having no interest in trains before applying for a job as an assistant goods train driver in 1989, said she has had nothing but support from her male colleagues. "They encouraged, helped and took care of me," she said, adding she had taken special training to become the first woman driver of a "ghat loco", the two-engined passenger trains that climb the hills of western Maharashtra state. "Because I was the only woman, they were curious whether I could do it or not," she said.

葉達夫承認，在1989年申請當貨運火車助理司機前，對火車毫無興趣，但她表示，其他男司機都力挺她。她說：「他們鼓勵我、幫助我、照顧我。」並稱她曾接受特別訓練，成為第一位攀登西部馬哈拉施特拉省雙引擎客運「登山火車」的女司機。她說：「由於我是唯一一位女性，他們很好奇我能不能辦到。」

Women like Yadav can be found throughout Indian history, from warrior queens like Rani Lakshmibai and members of the independence movement to the first -- and so far, only -- female prime minister, Indira Gandhi. Prathiba Patil, the current president, is the first woman to hold the post, the lower house of parliament has its first female speaker in Mira Kumar, while women are well-represented at many of India's largest companies.

印度歷史上不乏葉達夫這種女性，從為自由浴血奮戰的拉克希米巴伊女王及爭取獨立運動的女先驅，到第一位也是迄今唯一女總理甘地夫人都是箇中翹楚。印度目前的總統巴蒂爾是第一位出任總統的女性，下議院也選出第一位女議長庫瑪，女性在印度無數大企業中也占相當大比例。

But although India's constitution "guarantees to all Indian women equality", differences between the sexes still exist, particularly in rural areas, in terms of access to education, health care and even food. Just over a third of Indian women aged 15 to 49 said they had experienced domestic violence, according to a 2007 National Family Health Survey. Overall violence against women increased by nearly 25 percent between 2003 and 2007, the latest available government statistics show. The highest rises -- over 30 percent -- were recorded for kidnap, abduction and torture.

但雖然印度憲法「保障所有印度女性平等」，性別差異仍存，鄉下地區在教育、醫療保健甚至食物方面尤其如此。據2007年印度全國家庭保健調查指出，15至49歲女性中逾1/3表示，她們曾遭家暴。官方最新統計數字顯示，整體而言，2003至2007年間，對女性的暴力增加將近25%，其中增加最多的是綁架、誘拐和虐待折磨。

Madhu Purnima Kishwar, of New Delhi's Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and founder of leading rights group Manushi San-gathan, said that in the workplace gender was no bar to success -- provided women were strong. "In India, women who demonstrate that they are stronger than men usually find men falling at their feet," she said, linking it to the worship of Hindu goddesses and the importance of mothers in Indian society.

新德里「發展中社會研究中心」的瑪杜·波尼瑪‧基希瓦也是主要權利團體Manushi San-gathan的創辦人，她表示，在職場中性別並非成功的障礙，但女性要夠強才行。她說：「在印度，女性如果表現優於男性，往往會發現男人甘拜下風。」她並認為這和民間崇拜印度女神及印度社會中母親占有重要地位有關。

Apart from being India's first "motorwoman", Yadav has also been part of the attempt to curb another problem: complaints about sexual harassment -- or "eve-teasing" as it is known in India.

除了是印度史上首位女列車司機，葉達夫在力圖克服另一個問題上也盡了力，那就是性騷擾，即是印度當地所稱「挑逗夏娃」的投訴。

Rail minister Mamata Banerjee introduced "Ladies Specials" trains in India's four largest cities this year to improve safety for female commuters, whose numbers are increasing as more urban women forge careers outside the home. Yadav drove the first service into CST.

印度鐵路局長巴納吉今年特別在印度四大城市為通勤女性另闢「女性專屬列車」以提升她們的行車安全。隨著越來越多婦女走出家庭，投入職場，女性通勤族日增。第一班女性專車就是由葉達夫駛進查特拉巴蒂希瓦吉車站。

She is positive about her job and the opportunities it has given her, attributing her determination to succeed to her family, who sent her to convent school before she took a diploma in electrical engineering.

葉達夫對這工作和隨之而來的各種機會表示肯定，她說之所以下決心非成功不可，是得力於家人的支持，他們先送她去上教會學校，她才得以拿到電機工程學位。

Everybody was given the chance to chase their own dream. Whatever they wanted to do. We had freedom for education. We took advan-tage of that. We were very lucky to get that," she ex-plained. "(My mother) never said being a girl child you should do cooking. You should study first then we will see. You need to be bold."

她解釋說：「不管想做什麼，人人有機會追逐自己的夢想，我們可以自由接受教育，我們也充分利用，並很幸運得以圓夢。我母親從不認為女孩子家就應該煮飯燒菜。她認為妳應該先把書念好再說，妳必須勇往直前。」

Nevertheless, Yadav — who cites as influences Indira Gandhi and Lakshmibai, the 19th century heroine of Indian resistance against the British — admits it has still been tough. The job is physically demanding and time consuming, giving her less time to spend with her two teenaged sons and police officer husband. Working in an all-male environment since college has also taken its toll on her social life, she said. "I miss the friendship with women for the last 23 years. I feel shy talking with girls now, " she said.

但自認受甘地夫人及19世紀對抗英國殖民統治的女英雄拉克希米巴伊女王影響的葉達夫承認，還是很難。這項工作耗時費力，使她和兩個十來歲的兒子及當警察的丈夫相處時間減少。她自大學畢業後就在一個全部男性的環境工作，也影響她的社交生活。她說：「過去23年來我一直沒什麼女性朋友，現在我反而怯於和女人交談。」

Photo shows Indian first traindriver Surekha Ya-dav standing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai.

圖中印度第一位女性火車駕駛葉達夫站在孟買查特拉巴蒂希瓦吉車站月台。（法新社）