Mangaluru-resident C S Radhika learnt how to drive purely out of the interest in taking control of a vehicle. Her husband, Suresh, would teach her how to drive the ambulance that he operated in the city.
Radhika was 30 years old when her husband, also the sole breadwinner of the family, passed away. The world was a difficult place for the now 47-year-old who had two children to feed. Who would’ve thought that she would run a fleet of ambulances some day, reports The News Minute.
Radhika and Suresh set up their home in Mangaluru. Money was not abundant but just enough for a cosy life. Once Suresh got a job with the state transport corporation, they started leading a slightly more comfortable life as steady income trickled in. But, in 2000, their world was disrupted when Suresh was diagnosed with liver cancer. He passed away the following year.
47-year-old Radhika learnt how to drive from her husband, who passed away in 2000. Credit: Facebook|CS Radhika
“I had to raise Bhargavi and Bhoomika (her daughters). How would I be able to do that without a job? I told myself that whether or not I like it, I have to drive at least to look after my children,” she told TNM.
Making use of her ability to drive, Radhika got her licence and began driving the ambulance. Emergency calls, travelling for miles together, transferring patients to hospitals or moving bodies to the mortuary, there’s no task that she cannot be entrusted with.
With every passing year, the service transitioned from one car to a fleet of cars as demand went up. Credit: Facebook| CS Radhika
With a bit of loan, her savings and money from her husband’s insurance, she started the Cauvery Ambulance Service.
Now, Radhika is happy that she has been able to fulfil her late husband’s dream and hopes that one of her daughters will continue the family business in future.
