AI Generated Summary
- What had started as a practical skill became an expression of independence and a willingness to keep learning well beyond the age at which society often expects people to slow down.
- He was reluctant to drive a scooter or car, and for years buying a vehicle had not been financially practical for the family.
- Rather than treating the rejection as a verdict on her ability, she went ahead with plans to buy a vehicle.
Vidya Kaur began driving at an age when local driving schools thought she was too old to learn. Thirteen years later, she has driven everything from cars and tractors to trucks and excavators — and become an unlikely social media sensation.
For Vidya Kaur, learning to drive was a dream that had waited four decades for its turn.
The retired government school teacher from Kathua was 59 when she decided that the time had finally come to get behind the wheel. What followed was not quite the beginning she had expected: local driving schools refused to enrol her, apparently considering her too old to learn.
Kaur did not abandon the idea. Instead, she found another way.
Now 72, she is not merely comfortable driving a car through the busy roads of Jammu. Over the years, she has tried her hand at jeeps, tractors and trucks, and has even taken control of a JCB excavator. Her confidence behind the wheel has also made her a social media favourite, where videos featuring the elderly driver have earned her the affectionate moniker “Dadi Ji”.
The journey to the driver’s seat, however, began long before the cameras arrived.
Kaur had been fascinated by driving since childhood, but life left little room to pursue it. Married at 19, she raised three daughters while building a career in government education. She eventually rose to become a headmaster before retiring.
Through those years, the desire to learn to drive remained.
Seeing younger women driving on the streets of Pathankot strengthened that resolve. If other women could take the wheel, she reasoned, there was no reason she could not do the same.
There was another, more personal motivation. Her husband, himself a government school headmaster, had spent much of his working life travelling by bicycle. He was reluctant to drive a scooter or car, and for years buying a vehicle had not been financially practical for the family.
Retirement changed that. With some money finally available, Kaur wanted to buy a car — both for her husband and as an opportunity to fulfil her own long-standing ambition.
The first obstacle came when driving schools turned her away because of her age. Rather than treating the rejection as a verdict on her ability, she went ahead with plans to buy a vehicle.
Her husband initially suggested purchasing a used car so that she could practise without worrying about damaging a new one. Kaur, however, was confident enough to choose a new car, which the couple bought in 2013.
The person who eventually helped turn her ambition into a skill was Binni Singh, a young man working at the dealership. He agreed to teach her, and within months Kaur had become a confident driver. At 60, she obtained her driving licence.
A car was only the beginning.
Her curiosity about vehicles soon extended to much larger machines. She drove jeeps and tractors before moving on to trucks and eventually a JCB. What had started as a practical skill became an expression of independence and a willingness to keep learning well beyond the age at which society often expects people to slow down.
For Kaur, that independence remains more important than the novelty of operating heavy machinery. Driving meant she no longer needed to depend on somebody else whenever she wanted to travel. She could simply take the keys and leave.
Her eventual emergence as an internet personality happened almost by chance.
Motorcycle vlogger Vishal Lalotra was out riding when a vehicle overtook him. Intrigued by the pace and confident driving, he caught up with it, expecting to find a young man at the wheel. Instead, when he signalled to the driver, he found Kaur.
The encounter led Lalotra to begin documenting her driving, with encouragement from Kaur’s family. Videos showing “Dadi Ji” confidently manoeuvring vehicles — including heavy machinery — began circulating widely online.
Her following soon travelled beyond Jammu and even beyond India. Lalotra has recalled encountering people in Nepal who had seen her videos on Instagram and recognised the elderly woman whose driving had captured their attention.
Kaur herself appears less interested in internet celebrity than in what the journey represents.
Long before the viral videos, public recognition and cameras, she had already achieved what mattered most to her: learning something she had wanted to do since childhood.
At 59, she had been told she was too old to begin.
At 72, Vidya Kaur is still driving.
