Jilumol, Asia's first woman without hands to get driving licence, receives Kerala Sree award

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jilumol Mariyet Thomas (31), a native of Idukki who overcame physical challenges through sheer determination, has been honoured with the Kerala Sree award. She received the award from Governor R.V. Arlekar on Thursday. She is the first woman in Asia without hands to obtain a driving licence.

Born without hands, Jilumol fought a six-year legal battle to secure a four-wheeler driving licence. She approached the High Court and even the Central Government to achieve her goal. She also creates paintings using her feet. Jilumol drives an automatic Maruti Celerio using her feet, with a specially designed knob fitted to the steering wheel. The accelerator and brake pedals have been raised, and voice-command software has been installed to help her control the vehicle. She operates the indicators, wipers, windows and lights through voice commands. Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had presented her with the driving licence.

Jilumol lost her mother, Annakutty, when she was just four-and-a-half years old. Her father, Thomas, passed away two years ago. She learnt to write with her feet while staying at Mercy Home in Chethipuzha. She passed her Plus Two examination with distinction and went on to graduate in animation and graphic design. She now runs her own graphic design business. She has also made a mark as a dubbing artist and project manager.

"Having no hands has never felt like a difficulty. Nothing should become a limitation or prevent us from doing what we love. We should never give up hope," Jilumol said.

Other award winners

Several other personalities were also honoured at the ceremony.

• Kerala Jyothi: Dr M.R. Raghava Varier.
• Kerala Prabha: P.B. Aneesh (Agriculture) and Rajashree Warrier (Arts).
• Kerala Sree: Shahal Hassan Musaliar (Education), M.K. Vimal Govind (Start-up) and Abhilash Tomy (Sports), along with Jilumol.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Minhaj Alam introduced the award winners at the ceremony held at Lok Bhavan. Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan presided over the function. Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and ministers Sunny Joseph, Bindu Krishna and M. Liju were among those who attended.