{"id":16938,"date":"2026-05-18T16:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:29:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/2026\/05\/18\/this-kalyan-mother-now-drives-a-rickshaw-16-hours-a-day-for-her-daughters-dream\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:29:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:29:25","slug":"this-kalyan-mother-now-drives-a-rickshaw-16-hours-a-day-for-her-daughters-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/?p=16938","title":{"rendered":"This Kalyan mother now drives a rickshaw 16 hours a day for her daughter\u2019s dream"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131180912,imgsize-101766,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/auto-driver.jpg\" alt=\"Her husband left, but she refused to give up: This Kalyan mother now drives a rickshaw 16 hours a day for her daughter\u2019s dream\" title=\"AI generated image\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>At 6:30 every morning, while most of the city is still stretching awake, a small autorickshaw quietly rolls out onto the roads of Kalyan. Sitting beside the driver is a three-year-old girl, still sleepy, clutching her breakfast box.<!-- --> Behind the wheel is her mother, 25-year-old Komal Dyandew Gaikwad, who has turned heartbreak into survival and survival into hope.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>Komal\u2019s story does not begin with big opportunities or support. It begins with loss, uncertainty, and the kind of silence that follows when someone walks away and never returns. Yet somewhere between unpaid bills, long roads, and sleepless nights, she built a life that now moves forward on three wheels and one powerful promise, her daughter will never have to stop studying because of circumstances.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>A life that changed far too early<br \/><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/>Komal was only 18 when she got married and moved from Parbhani to the city. Like many young women, she quietly left behind her own education after Class 10 and stepped into responsibilities that arrived too quickly. By 22, she had become a mother to her daughter, Tejaswi.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>Then life shifted without warning.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>Her husband left and never came back. Suddenly, Komal found herself alone with a one-year-old child, no stable income, and days when even food became uncertain. The future looked frighteningly small.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>But what stands out in her story is not the abandonment. It is the decision she made after it.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>Instead of surrendering to helplessness, Komal chose movement. She chose work. She chose dignity.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>The skill that unexpectedly became her lifeline<br \/><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>Before leaving, her husband had taught her how to drive an autorickshaw. At the time, it was meant to be a practical lesson \u2014 something useful for family errands or school pickups in the future.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"26\"\/>Komal never imagined that one skill would one day become the reason her daughter could eat.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"28\"\/>When no one agreed to hire her as domestic help because she had a small child, she saw only one option left: the road. She rented a rickshaw and started driving through Kalyan, Dombivli, and Thakurli, learning not just traffic routes, but also how to survive in a city that rarely slows down for anyone.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"30\"\/>There is something deeply human about the way her story unfolds. <!-- -->It is not dramatic in the cinematic sense. There are no overnight miracles. Only long hours, difficult decisions, and a woman trying to keep life steady for her child.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>The little seat beside the driver tells the real story<br \/><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>Komal\u2019s biggest challenge was never the traffic. It was motherhood.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>With nobody available to care for Tejaswi, she had to find a way to keep her daughter close while working. So she saved every rupee she could, arranged a loan, paid a down payment of Rs 60,000, and bought her own autorickshaw.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"41\"\/>Inside it, she created a small seat next to the driver\u2019s chair just for her daughter.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"43\"\/>That tiny seat says more about sacrifice than long speeches ever could.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>Every day, Tejaswi travels beside her mother as the rickshaw moves through crowded roads and noisy signals. Her breakfast is packed early in the morning. Her mother drives until noon, returns home to cook, and heads back to work by 4 pm. The day ends only around 10 pm.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"48\"\/>There are no Sundays off. No luxury of exhaustion. If Komal stops for even a day, the next day\u2019s meals become uncertain.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"50\"\/>Yet she continues.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"52\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Earning little, carrying a lot<br \/><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"54\"\/>Despite working close to 16 hours a day, Komal earns only around Rs 400 to Rs 500 daily. From that, she pays rent for her home in Kalyan East and a monthly EMI for her rickshaw.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"56\"\/>The numbers feel harsh when placed beside the amount of effort she puts in.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"58\"\/>But what makes her journey remarkable is the absence of bitterness. <!-- -->There is tiredness in her voice, but not defeat. Even now, her focus remains fixed on one thing, education.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"62\"\/>Recently, she enrolled Tejaswi in a local school. For many families, school admission may look ordinary. For Komal, it is proof that the struggle is slowly turning into something meaningful.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"64\"\/>Her dream is simple but powerful. She wants her daughter to become an IPS officer.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"66\"\/>Perhaps that dream comes from knowing exactly what it feels like when women are left without power, support, or choices.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"69\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Why Komal\u2019s story stays with people<br \/><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"71\"\/>In cities, stories like Komal\u2019s often pass unnoticed. Thousands of people may sit in her rickshaw without fully knowing the journey of the woman driving them home.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"73\"\/>But her life reflects something important about everyday courage. Real resilience is rarely loud. Sometimes it looks like a mother waking up before sunrise, packing breakfast for her child, and driving across crowded streets so her daughter can have a future she herself never received.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"75\"\/>There is no grand stage around her. No spotlight. Only a moving autorickshaw carrying a mother, a child, and a dream that refuses to break.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"77\"\/>And perhaps that is exactly why her story feels unforgettable.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"79\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"80\"\/><span class=\"em\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available reports and statements shared in media coverage. The intention is to highlight an inspiring human-interest story centred on resilience, motherhood, and determination.<\/span><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"82\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/life-style\/people\/her-husband-left-but-she-refused-to-give-up-this-kalyan-mother-now-drives-a-rickshaw-16-hours-a-day-for-her-daughters-dream\/articleshow\/131175571.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 6:30 every morning, while most of the city is still stretching awake, a small autorickshaw quietly rolls out onto the roads of Kalyan. Sitting beside the driver is a three-year-old girl, still sleepy, clutching her breakfast box. Behind the wheel is her mother, 25-year-old Komal Dyandew Gaikwad, who has turned heartbreak into survival and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-style"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}