Click to play videoNew Delhi: Nothing excites this 32-year-old woman more than a conversation about shaves. And why not?
For over two years, K Radha Devi has single-handedly fought a legal battle to get women the right to work as barbers in Tirupati. Two months back, she won her case and ever since, over 3,600 heads have gone under her razor.
"Women coming to Tirupati had to get their heads shaved off by men barbers. Sometimes it was very embarrassing for them. I wanted to save women of this embarrassment. I am happy that I have been successful," says Radha Devi.
And with that battle won, Radha now has a new task at hand. Back home in Tirupati, she has a battery of 250 women, all trained by her, to pick up the cut and snip job. Out of these, at least 25 have made it to the selector's list for shaving heads of pilgrims.
And Radha's motives are simple: "I started training women because when a man earns money he spends at will, but when a women earns money, it goes into the family. I want women to be financially independent and empowered.''
Her initiative is something that even makes the Union Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare applaud: "Radha should be appreciated and congratulated for her ability to access what the Government and the environment have given her and for taking up the fight."
Radha Devi has cut through male bastion and that seems to have become a habit with her. Perhaps, that's the reason why she is now fighting for the rights of women barbers in Tirupati to shave men's heads.
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