Visakhapatnam: Women should overcome gender discrimination, inequality

Visakhapatnam: In a male-dominated field, she lets her actions do the talking. The word 'impossible' does not exist in her dictionary as she believes that if men can do it, women can also do.

Meet A Arunasri, the first woman station master in Waltair Division, East Coast Railway. When she joined as assistant station master in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, traffic department (railways) her superiors had cautioned her that she may not be able to survive in the job for more than 10 days. "I completed two decades in the field now. Being courageous is my biggest strength," admits the station superintendent, Visakhapatnam railway station on the occasion of International Women's Day. She says that a woman should overcome gender discrimination, inequality and stretch beyond her boundaries to excel in her workplace.

Arunasri joined the Indian Railways in 1999. After working as assistant station master in Steel Plant and Visakhapatnam railway station, she rendered the service as a traffic inspector efficiently at DRM office. A couple of years later, she moved to Gopalapatnam railway station as a station master. Now, she discharges her duty as the station superintendent at Vizag railway station. Her husband B Lingeswara Rao, a steel plant employee, extends support to her endeavours.

In a nerve-wracking job that demands instant decisions and highly reflective action, she has delivered zero-accident output in her two-decade-long stint. Describing her job profile as a tight rope walk, Arunasri says it includes monitoring reception and dispatch of trains, ensuring the attachment of fit rakes replacing sick ones and engine attachment, among a bunch of others all in less than 20 minutes. She says that her day-to-day job requires tremendous amount of forecasting, advance planning and chasing.

Recalling one of her challenging experiences, Arunasri says, "When Tsunami had hit the Indian coast, I was on duty instilling confidence among passengers not to panic and abandon the train. Though I was bit concerned about my son and my mother who were at home then, it did not dissuade me from serving public and put them at ease."

"Women are naturally good at multitasking. When we can don the roles of a daughter, a wife and a mother with equal ease, we can do wonders at workplace as well," reasons Arunasri, who bagged zonal-level General Manager Award, Waltair Division for best performance, Chief Safety Award and DRM Award among a dozen others.

Despite her hectic work schedule that includes night shifts, Arunasri ensures to spend quality time with her family and indulges in charity to de-stress herself.