Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia, on the fast track to becoming a more liberal nation, made a major change in one of their laws very recently… a change for which women all over the nation had been waiting. After years of being denied the right to get behind the wheel of a car, women in Saudi Arabia finally caught a break when on June 24, a law legalising women drivers came into effect.
When the government first announced that it would be lifting the archaic ban, people, especially Saudi women, waited with bated breath for the day to arrive. When that day finally came the new law was celebrated by people not just in Saudi Arabia but also, by people all over the world. The Saudi police officers along the roads even handed out flowers to the women drivers, who took photos and videos of the joyous occasion. The internet was flooded with videos, photos and stories of proud and happy women, getting into their cars are driving about freely, without having to fear being caught and penalised.
One such woman who was itching to get behind the wheel is Saramma Thomas, a native of Angamoozhy in Kerala who has been living and working in Saudi Arabia for the last nine years. She got her license just three days after the new law came into effect, not knowing that she had made history by being the first Indian woman to get a driver’s license in Saudi Arabia.
Saramma is wedded to Mathew, a native of Kumbla in Kerala, and moved to Saudi Arabia about nine years ago. She had first got her Indian driving license in the year 2015, and in the two-to-three months she was in India, she made full use of her license and drove both a two-wheeler and four-wheeler. Ever since then, she had been waiting with bated breath for a chance to drive in Saudi Arabia.
When the new law was announced, an excited and prompt Mathew applied for a license online and made an appointment for a driving test on June 27. After a medical check-up, Saramma took the test, passed and got her license that same day. Two days after getting her license, Saramma celebrated by driving down to Dammam (nearly 100 km away from Jubail) with her husband and their 4-year-old son Aaidan.
An excited Saramma told NewsKarnataka, “I’m so happy. We did not expect the rules to change. Now I drive to work every day.”
“I did not try to drive the car immediately after getting my license. The cars here are a little different with the steering being on the left side. I tried to drive the car two days after getting the license,” she explained. She also added that it is comfortable to drive in Saudi. The roads are nice and driving is easier since the vehicle is an automatic, which she says is easier for women to drive.
When asked how her husband felt now that she could finally drive, she said, “My husband is happy and relaxed. Before he used to drive me to work every day. Now he says he can relax. If he is not able to drive or is not around, I can still go to work and other things.”
“Before I always had to depend on someone else. Now I can drop my son at the daycare by myself and I can do my other work also,” she added.
She said that they have one car that they both drive. She drives it to her place of work while her husband sits next to her and from there, he takes the car to his workplace.
