KARACHI: They wear the same red and black filling station uniforms, but stand out due to their gender. Not many have seen women filling fuel in vehicles at filling stations in this country. The four women doing this at the Total Parco filling station near Teen Talwar in Clifton are a rare sight indeed.

In fact, you can find them only at this particular filling station.

Forecourt manager Mohammad Raza told Dawn that their station is the only one with women working next to men as it is their company-operated station.

“They are the first women hired and trained by our company for fuelling vehicles so they are also starting with our company-operated station. But as the idea grows so shall their numbers,” he smiled.

The women — Chand Bibi, Shakila Bano, Shabana K. Fayyaz and Mehrunissa — arrived at the station some seven months ago.

‘Each morning we have our uniforms ready, pressed like our children’s school uniforms and we all start a new day, crisp and fresh’

Raza says that Chand Bibi was the first among the four to start working there. He said that even though the station remains open 24 hours they have three eight-hour shifts.

“We have them in the first, morning or opening shift only. They report for work at 8am every day except Sundays and get off by 4pm,” he informed.

“We do realise that being female they may face commuting issues in the evenings or at night, therefore the decision to relieve them by late afternoon,” he added.

Chand Bibi, the senior most among the four, told Dawn she likes it when the others look up to her.

“The others joined after seeing me. I joined on July 1 and I helped Shabana get hired too. And that’s how the other two also followed. It feels good to be a trendsetter, to inspire others,” she said.

She adds that her own family has no issues with her working at a fuel station.

“My husband works as a security guard. Both of us wear uniforms for work. Each morning we have our uniforms ready and pressed like our children’s school uniforms and we all start a new day, crisp and fresh,” she laughed.

When asked what she does if any of the drivers coming to the station for refuelling says something offensive or teases her, she shook her head. “It has not happened thus far. But this might also be due to the fact that we are surrounded by our male colleagues. We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves. But our male colleagues also make sure that nothing of the sort happens. So no one dare misbehave with us,” she points out.

“On the contrary, we have been approached with compliments, especially from ladies. People do appreciate us, which feels good,” she beamed.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2021