Labour Day special: Driving craze unites Tripunithura's 'tanker lorry family'

KIZHAKKAMBALAM: Hairpin bends or steep climbs, nothing would flinch this 'tanker lorry family'. They travel up to 14 times a month from Tripunithura to the petrol pump in Marayoor with a fuel tanker. In the driving seat will be Ananthakrishnan or his wife Soumya of Pulikayathu house in Kolanchery, Pazhanthottam. If not them, it will be their daughter, Lakshmi or her husband, Vishnu. This family is setting a different example on Labour Day.

Ananthakrishnan was a car enthusiast since childhood. In 2020, life changed after he became the driver of a tanker lorry at a petrol pump called Marayoor Fuels. During the COVID period, when he could not find a helper in the lorry, his wife Soumya jumped in to fill the void. Within days, Soumya also learned to drive. Later, she obtained hazard license to drive heavy and fuel tankers.

Their daughter Lakshmi was attracted to this field by the Munnar-Marayoor trips she often took with her parents. When she turned 20, Lakshmi also obtained her license. Today, Lakshmi, along with her father and husband, also heads to Marayoor. They fill up fuel from the IOC yard in Irumpanam, Tripunithura.

Ananthakrishnan wanted his daughter's life partner to be someone with a craze for driving. He got it through Vishnu, a native of Kumily and a driver by trade. On free days, Lakshmi will be the driver of the St. Anthony's School bus in Kizhakkambalam. Dasharath, a Plus Two student, and Lakshipriya, a Class Six student, are Lakshmi's siblings. Yadav Krishna is the son of (4) Lakshmi and Vishnu.