There’s a stipulated time for all events in our lives. If there’s something we truly want, it often finds its way to be part of our destiny. This has been lived for real by a 40-year-old woman from Kerala who drove a cargo lorry from Kerala to Kashmir.
Jelaja Ratheesh from Perumbavoor started her journey from the Ernakulam district to her dream destination, Kashmir. It is her choice of vehicle – a lorry – and not a car, bus, train, or flight that has astonished everyone, and inspired at the same time.
Her trip has been documented on the internet where it is revealed that Jelaja was not alone but she had her husband Ratheesh P S and a relative Aneesh K S with her.
“I am going to witness the places seen in movies in real. It’s not in any bus or car, but a lorry. Those sights are indeed special and unfamiliar for us, women,” Jelaja Ratheesh says in a video at the beginning of her journey expressing her excitement.
The trio started on February 2 from Ernakulam ferrying plywood to Pune and later they transported loads of onion to Kashmir.
“I was passionate about driving since childhood. However, circumstances were not favorable then. After marriage, I learnt driving. I have been to Mumbai twice on lorry with my husband. As we got an order for Pune, we also enquired about loads to Kashmir from there. The journey was not expensive as we were carrying loads and sleeping inside the vehicle. At times, we cooked meals in the lorry,” she told a media organization.
Jelaja added that the journey was not tiresome as one can sleep inside a lorry unlike in a car. Although dirty toilets posed a difficulty for her throughout the journey.
She also drove across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab where she could behold amazing sights.
”The most memorable part of our journey was the visit to Gulmarg. I couldn’t believe that it happened,” Jelaja exclaimed.
The 40-year-old also loved riding through Punjab. “The picturesque fields on both sides of the road are sights to behold,” she said.
While returning, they transported plywood from Haryana to Bangalore in Karnataka and from Mysore they got loads of sugar to be unloaded in Kerala.
Many were shocked to see a woman behind the wheels of a cargo lorry. After all, it is not a common sight.
“People have been looking at me with wonder. It boosts my confidence. My confidence as a woman has increased,” she said in the video.
Jelaja now plans to go to Tripura and Delhi by lorry along with her family on her next trip.
Would you try seeing the country on a lorry?