Detective, ambulance driver, aviation firefighter: Indian women are breaking gender stereotypes

It’s another day at work for M. Veeralakshmi, whose name means “the brave girl”. Siren and red lights flashing, the 29-year-old expertly navigates her ambulance through the crowded streets of Chennai, India, to pick up a patient. She is the state of Tamil Nadu’s first female ambulance driver. Veeralakshmi, a commerce graduate, learned by observing her husband, who is a driver, and was given vocational training by ANEW, a women’s welfare association in Chennai which trains and helps…