Father at the wheel, daughter as conductor: A regular sight on the Guruvayur-Kodungallur route!

Kodungallur: For regular bus passengers on the Kodungallur-Guruvayur route, the duo of a father and daughter is not just a familiar sight—they are also a driver and conductor. Shine, a bus driver from Gurudevanagar Thaiparambathu, is the proud owner of the bus, while his daughter, Ananthalakshmi, serves as the conductor. Ananthalakshmi, an M.Com degree holder, has been the conductor on the Ramapriya bus on the Guruvayur-Kodungallur route for the past year and a half. 

Their day begins early at 5:30 am, with Ananthalakshmi joining her father for work. They return home only by 8:30 pm after a long day of work. Besides working as a conductor, Ananthalakshmi has also enrolled in a private institution in Thrissur for C.M.A. studies. The support from her mother, Dhanya Shine, a councillor of the 43rd ward of the municipal council, has been unwavering.

Ananthalakshmi first accompanied her father on bus routes when she was in the fifth grade. Initially, she started by helping her father carry bags on the bus from Kodungallur to Paravur. When, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff shortages became a challenge, Ananthalakshmi took the initiative to get a conductor's license. Since then, she has been working full-time as a conductor.

Shine had owned his own bus 22 years ago. Although he once had a fleet of six buses, the number has since been reduced due to the impacts of the pandemic. The story of this dynamic father-daughter duo has gained attention, and on Saturday morning at 8:30 am, they were scheduled to be honoured in Kodungallur by Union Minister Suresh Gopi for their inspiring work.