Why should boys have all the fun? Women bikers dive into how they have to navigate the road and men

Every time I ride a bike heads will turn on the roadrdquo says Firdaus Shaikh whorsquos been riding her bike for over two decades now Shersquos one of the thousands of women who take to the road with their motorbikes every daySo is Gurugrambased biker Sia who was knocked off her motorcycle after a car driven by Kalyan Bainsla hit her On September 13 she was riding her Aprilia RS 457 with a group of bikers when a car began following the group Sia said the occupants were behaving aggressively and repeatedly gesturing for her to stop She tried to create distance from the car but it continued following herFootage from a camera mounted on her bike shows the car swerving into her motorcycle She was thrown from the bike and slid along the road while the car continued on ldquoSiarsquos alive because of pure luck By Godrsquos grace there was no other vehicle behind her or else we would have got very very different footagerdquo says ShaikhlsquoBikes are a symbol of freedomIt symbolises strength freedom and the ability to do what you like Because till date such unconditional freedom is available only to menrsquo says biker Firdaus Shaikh PICISTOCKShaikh says that handling male egos is the everyday reality of a woman on a bike ldquoThey look at you like yoursquore some kind of alienrdquo says 35yearold Parul Chhabra ldquoBecause they donrsquot expect there to be a woman on a bike So they take your pictures some even request to sit on a bikerdquoChhabra usually rides with her safety gear ldquoIf yoursquore wearing safety gear it is a little difficult to identify whether yoursquore a man or a woman So sometimes people try to get close to you just to figure it outrdquo Chhabra saysChhabra finds that when yoursquore a woman there is always the assumption that yoursquore a bad driver ldquoI always wear my safety gear even if itrsquos a short ride in the city because you can drive safely however you canrsquot control the circumstances Also if anything at all happens the first question wonrsquot be of my safety but rather lsquoItrsquos a woman driving of course she wasnrsquot carefulrsquo and that sticks with you at timesrdquo ldquoLuckily Sia had a recording Otherwise no one would have believed herrdquo Chhabra saysFirdaus Shaikh 40 has been biking since she was 18Shaikh was 18 when she got her first bike She comes from a motorcycling family ldquoBikes are a symbol of freedom Two decades ago women had an affinity towards certain motorcycle brands because they were considered macho It symbolised strength freedom and the ability to do what you like Because till date such unconditional freedom is available only to men A bike represents that freedomrdquo Shaikh saysShaikh says over the years she has seen the number of women bikers go up dramatically ldquoThere was a time when women rode bikes because they came from onevehicle households The man of the house had one bike and the woman needed to go from point A to point B So they would pick up a bikerdquo she saysldquoBut now there are a bunch of us who ride purely for the love of the game Because a bike gives you a sense of freedom You might not have control in a lot of other aspects of your life especially when yoursquore living under your parentsrsquo roofrdquo Shaikh says ldquoBut when yoursquore on a motorcycle you at least have control on that one thing You have control on how fast itrsquos going how itrsquos slowing down how itrsquos making you feel on the insiderdquoBiker Parul Chhabra finds that there is a default assumption on the road that women are bad driversShaikh grew up in Pune and is now settled in Delhi The difference in reactions to a woman on a bike is drastic she says ldquoIn Pune Mumbai Bengaluru therersquos still a fascination People are curious But generally itrsquos a positive reactionrdquoBut in and around Delhi NCR one doesnrsquot always get a positive reaction ldquoI was riding from Delhi to Ladakh once with a group We had a breakdown around the Sonipath Haryana area Keep in mind wersquore a group of women with head to toe safety gear and yet within 20 minutes there was an entire mob of men around saying lsquoOh look a chick is standingrsquordquo Shaikh recalls ldquoAs a society out there theyrsquore very conservative So in North India even today if they see you riding a motorcycle they get shocked Ego battles are commonrdquoldquoIn Delhi therersquos just a culture to race It doesnrsquot matter if yoursquore in a car on a bike a man or a woman random people will try to race you But of course if yoursquore a woman egos do get involvedrdquo says Eklavya Atray a Delhibased bikerDr Paras SharmaCounselling psychologist Dr Paras Sharma explains that in public spaces the default idea is that they belong to men ldquopowerful menrdquo ldquoIf a woman is ahead of them they will be flashing their lights at you honking overtaking Itrsquos their way of indicating that this outdoor space is their space So then how can somebody else share that space That too a woman This is a way of showing that woman her place so she falls in linerdquoFor Shaikh this has meant hiding her identity on the road ldquoThis is my personal choice mdash I donrsquot like letting anyone know itrsquos a woman riding a motorcycle A lot of my girlfriends that ride bikes pretty much have the same approach Wear all the gear donrsquot let anyone know that yoursquore a girl Because being a woman on a bike will draw this kind of attention especially in NCRrdquo Shaikh saysChhabra says that the biking community is riddled with sexism ldquoA lot of men bike to their place of work they go on rides every weekend Irsquom not saying that women donrsquot do that as well but then therersquos someone like me who doesnrsquot travel to office daily on my bike I have other hobbies Or sometimes itrsquos just uncomfortable due to weather conditions to take my bike outldquoBut then this becomes a way to demean me as a lsquobikerrsquo They think ldquoOh you donrsquot ride your bike every day Yoursquove never biked to Ladakh Yoursquore not a serious bikerrsquo But I donrsquot hear any men getting questioned like that often So why do I have to prove myself like that But when did biking become all about how often you ride how many kilometres have you biked I like to ride and I ride whenever I can Itrsquos as simple as thatrdquolsquoThe minute they see a woman they try to race herrsquoDelhibased superbiker Eklavya Atray says that women bikers get more harassment than compliments on the roadEklavya AtrayEklavya Atray has been biking since 2003 Over the years hersquos seen the biking scene evolve ldquoThe number of women riders has also increased over the years I see a lot more women riders now Mostly what happens is people try to race them Generally even if you see any woman biker in the traffic boys want to race them because they think lsquoShersquos a girl riding a bikersquo Sometimes people will even compliment them But yeah there are some brash people who try to racerdquoRacing happens with both men and women but Atray feels ldquowith women itrsquos worse because itrsquos more of an ego thingrdquo He says that with a man itrsquos more like a ldquobikerdquo thing ldquolsquoWhy does he have this bikersquo People generally have that urge to come and talk about it But with women the fascination is about her being a womanrdquo