How an armless woman got into the driver’s seat

Dressed in all black and carrying a matching bag on her shoulder, Jilumol walked confidently towards her car, parked under the shade of a tree. Using her leg, she opened the door and put her bag inside the vehicle before settling into the driver’s seat. She then turned the ignition key, shifted the gear while applying the brakes, got the car moving—using her legs to do all that—and steered her way into a whole new world, breaking the barriers to travel for people with disabilities.Jilumol Mariet Thomas, 32, was recently granted four-wheeler driving licence, a huge achievement for a person born without both arms, giving her a whole new measure of freedom. medium105857725And it’s not just driving that Jilumol has mastered. She is also an expert at painting with her mouth and feet. Her dogged resolution to get a driving licence took six years to bear fruit – on December 2, just days ago, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan handed it over to her at a function in Palakkad city.Jilumol says it wasn’t just her desire to drive, she had a larger purpose in mind. She wanted to let the world know that not having arms does not have stand in the way of one's dreams – her mission was to remove the obstacles to free movement for people with disabilities. But it was indeed an uphill task to procure the licence. Initially, even the officials were unsure whether she could do it and were, therefore, of little help. She eventually had to approach the court when they turned a blind eye to her requests. medium105857845 medium105858300Growing up in a mercy home for differently-abled people in Changanassery in Kerala’s Kottayam district, Jilumol trained her legs to do all the things she could have done with her arms. She completed her education at a regular school, finished college, and got a job. But there was a passion, yet unfulfilled she was determined to pursue—driving. “When others wanted to become professionals, I used to say I wanted to drive a car. During a motivational class, a priest asked me what my ambition was and I told him about my dream. He introduced me to an advocate who promised to help me secure a driving licence. My efforts started in 2018,” says Jilumol, who has lost both her parents."I learned to drive at a driving school in Kochi’s Vaduthala [locality] and approached the Thodupuzha MVD [motor vehicle department] office for a licence. They turned down my request, citing my disability. Later, I approached the high court, which asked the Thodupuzha RTO [regional transport office] to accept my application,” she says. But Jilumol could not drive a normal car. And so she decided to customise a car to her specifications. “The Lions Club in Kattappana [Idukki district] assisted me financially and made alterations to suit my physical condition. Though I reached the RTO with the car, they refused to grant me a licence again, citing various legal issues in the alteration of the vehicle,” she says.Jilumol was then forced to approach SH Panchapakesan, commissioner of the Kerala State Commissionerate for Persons with Disabilities. The commissioner, in turn, wrote to the transport commissioner. Following the directions of motor vehicle inspector Rajesh AR at the Ernakulam RTO office, alterations, including mechanical, were carried out on the vehicle. medium105858179To help Jilumol sit, the driving seat was raised with an additional cushion, and the buckle of the seat belt was also fixed accordingly. To help her apply the brake and accelerator, both were raised and fixed on the left side just below the steering wheel, on which a knob was fixed to get a grip for her right foot. For using the indicators, wipers, or turning on the lights, Jilumol could give a command since the vehicle was equipped with a voice command system, installed with the help of a startup firm.“But despite getting the car, I could not take it out on the road all these years as I had not received a licence. I used to drive it inside my house compound in Ernakulam,” says Jilumol, who works as a freelance graphic designer. Recently, her dream came true – she passed the driving test with flying colours driving her customised car for the test.After getting the licence, Jilumol visited the Little Flower Church in Elamkulam, driving the car herself. medium105858350She says she gets curious stares from other drivers on the roads. “Some motorists feel that I have tied both my arms behind. When I tell them I don’t have arms, they feel sorry and spring up from their seats and gesture an apology.”Jilumol also heaves a sigh of relief as she does not need to spend money on hiring an auto or board a bus to meet her clients to get work orders. “More than that, I wanted to set an example for disabled people like me that anything is possible in life, provided you strive for it,” she says with the smile of a winner.Photos: RK Sreejith