“I’d been doing aged care before for two years . . . I wanted to do something different,” the Shepparton resident said.
She decided to get her bus licence and applied for a job at Dyson Bus Group in Shepparton, making her the first woman in the local Sikh community to become a bus driver.
Mrs Kaur said in her home of Chandigarh in the north Indian region, it would be unheard of for a woman to be a bus or heavy vehicle driver.
“Here, we’ve got equal opportunity,” she said.
She is finding the work can easily fit in around her responsibility to her family, thanks to her understanding employers and friendly manager.
This includes being able to move shifts to fit with her family commitments and work the school routes, which allow her to spend more time with her family.
After Mrs Kaur's recommendation for the job to her friends, two more women from her community have joined the ranks at Dyson Bus Group.
Greg Fitzsimmons, Shepparton Euroa manager at Dyson Bus Group, said Mrs Kaur and the other women were already assets to the rest of the Dyson team.
“We've got a pretty good rapport with everyone . . . sorta like family,” he said, a sentiment Mrs Kaur agreed with.
Mr Fitzsimmons also said there was no difference between members of the Shepparton team, no matter their origin.
“I don't really feel like their boss, it makes you wanna come to work every day,” Mr Fitzsimmons said.
For women in the community who are interested in becoming a bus driver, Mrs Kaur recommends "just going for it".
“You just believe in yourself, you can do anything,” she said.
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