Meet ‘Gateway Ki Rani’ Who Drives Kaali-Peeli On Mumbai Streets

Sarika Randive (34) stands out among the clamour of voices shouting for passengers outside Mumbai’s CSMT station. “I will take you to the Gateway of India, come,” she says in English when she sees a foreigner.

Sarika Randive, also known as “Gateway ki Rani,” glides through the streets of South Mumbai in her Kali-Peeli cab, a rare sight in a profession dominated by men. As one of the city’s first female cab drivers, she entered the streets in 2022 and hasn’t looked back since.

Sharing her experience and the obstacles she had in her driving career, she recounted her first day, saying she started at 8.30 a.m. but did not get a passenger until 2 p.m., possibly because they were not used to seeing a woman driving Kali-Peeli. Finally, a woman came in and took her to Matunga. She was so thrilled to see her driving that she left an extra tip.

Sarika, a Solapur native, was a minor when she became orphaned and later got married. After her first kid, she took up the charge of assisting her husband, a tempo driver by profession.

The 34-year-old worked in sugarcane fields and as a labourer on road construction before moving to Mumbai ten years ago in search of better opportunities. Her search led her to do a number of odd jobs, but “something was off.”

Sarika said that after six months of looking for suitable work options, one person asked whether she would be interested in driving for employment. This unexpected encounter transformed her life. Initially, she had no intention of driving a taxi. Then, that person helped her apply to driving school and receive a licence.

She got her licence, but, COVID-19 led to a delay and hence, she started in 2022.

Sarika has earned the nickname “Gateway chi Rani (queen of Gateway)” after two years of numerous visits to and from the popular tourist destination.