Women wary of travelling at night with a male driver has someone to turn to: Rapido ‘Captain’ from Chennai, 45-year-old Mahalakshmi Ramalingam. She offers bike rides on Rapido late in the night. She is known as ‘Karate Mahalakshmi’ for a reason: she has been teaching and practising karate for two decades.

“From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. my bookings are reserved for women, especially those returning from a long-distance trip alighting at Koyambedu bus terminus or Perambur railway station and unable to get a bus,” says the resident of Mogappair who has been with the ride-hailing app for the last two years.

Prior to that, Mahalakshmi had worked as assistant karate instructor with various schools including Velammal Group of Schools, Chennai Public School and Queen Mary’s College, where she is often greeted by students who appreciate her influence as a trainer.

Her journey into martial art training began when she was 19, her mother enrolling her in a karate class in the neighbourhood for self-defence. “I lost my father when I was 17 and that protective feeling was missing at home. I was overweight for my age with thyroid-related complaints, and people made fun of me,” says Mahalakshmi.

Although karate empowered and boosted her confidence, she faced many hardships at home and in the workplace.

A school dropout, Mahalakshmi had to work to support her family, being the eldest child. She started by taking up odd jobs. Working as a karate instructor did not address the financial crunch.

“During April and May, we would not get any salaries as schools were not having classes,” she says. Later, through a friend she got to know about Rapido. Mahalakshmi says the job has its challenges but on the upside, it offers flexibility.

“I have done close to 6,000 rides with both male and female riders. In some situations you have to be tough and certain others, it is better to ignore the taunts,” says the captain who takes 10-15 rides a day.

Genuine expressions of thankfulness from women she had safely dropped at night serve as a motivation factor for Mahalakshmi.

A fellow journalist with The Hindu has been a regular rider with Mahalakshmi. She has ferried her many a time for a column featuring Chennai’s night life.

Mahalakshmi’s first love remains karate and she wants to impart self-defence training to women at Rapido so that they can take late night rides.

In her view, driving and martial arts are indispensable skills for every woman. Mahalakshmi is being helped by well wishers to fulfil her dream of establishing a self-defence and karate academy for women and girls.