By Urvashi Patole

I have been riding motorcycles for nearly two decades. I have ridden alone, with other women and in large groups, across different parts of the country. I have had thousands of ordinary interactions on the road and many wonderful ones too. But there have also been incidents that I still think about, especially when I see something like what happened to Sia in Gurugram.

Advertisement

A fellow Bikerni member and I were riding towards Bhubaneswar through the southern route when a group of men saw us pass and tried to stop us. We told them we had to reach our destination before sunset and couldn’t stop. They rode ahead.

A little later, just before one of the villages, we saw them again. They had spread themselves across the road, holding hands and trying to block us. I was connected to my friend on the intercom and told her to speed up, hoping they would scatter. They did. We went through and kept going.

We were riding a 1,000cc and a 1,700cc motorcycle, so we had the ability to get away quickly. At one point, we were doing 120 and 140 kmph. I remember thinking how unnecessary and risky it was. We were forced to increase our speed simply because a group of men had decided to stop us.

Advertisement

Another time, I was riding alone when a Scorpio came extremely close to me and started pushing me towards the divider. I slowed down so that I wouldn’t get squeezed between the vehicle and the divider. I managed to get around and tried to pass it from the other side.

As I came alongside, the passenger suddenly opened the left-side door. I managed to avoid it and got away.

The rest of our group had already gone quite far ahead. I was riding a little behind my friend and could see what was happening. The men kept trying to push her towards the side of the road and make her stop.

By then, I was extremely angry.

They got scared and drove away.

I am grateful that they reacted that way. It could easily have gone in another direction, and I don’t know what would have happened to either of us if it had.

I also remember an incident in my 20s when I was riding a right-hand-side-geared Royal Enfield for the first time. I was riding back home in the late hours of the evening when two guys on a motorcycle came closer to my motorcycle and pushed me sideways. I fell hard on the ground, not before scorching the entire skin off my right calf and leg as it had touched the silencer. I didn’t even tell my parents as I was scared to get banned from riding.

That is the part that bothers me most about these situations. We are constantly having to think about how to get ourselves out of something that we never created in the first place.

There have been so many other experiences over the years. Women riders being asked why they are riding alone, where they are going, where they have come from. Men following us, trying to get our attention or cutting into our formation. Sometimes it is curiosity. Sometimes it is simply harassment.

At the same time, I have also seen the other side of this country from a motorcycle. People offering us tea, asking if we need food or water, inviting us into their homes, helping when we have a problem with a bike. There have been far more good experiences than bad ones.

That is why I don’t want the answer to what happened to Sia to be that women should stop riding alone or avoid certain roads. We are riding because we want to. We want to travel, explore and experience what it feels like to ride a machine. We aren’t doing it for attention or social media. We aren’t asking anyone to approve of it.

We should, however, be prepared.

Over the years, I have learned to carry emergency contacts, keep phones with different networks, wear proper riding gear and understand basic self-defence. There are things you can carry that may help you in an emergency, but you also need to know how to use them and, more importantly, when not to escalate a situation. Your first priority should always be getting yourself and the person riding with you out safely.

I hope there comes a time when women riding motorcycles are so ordinary that none of this preparation feels necessary. Maybe our daughters and the generations after them will have that experience.

Until then, we have to be aware, prepared and smart about how we ride.

But I still hope that one day, when a woman rides past someone on a motorcycle, the first thought isn’t why is she here?

It is simply: “There goes another rider.”

The writer is co-founder, The Bikerni