Vroom! Make way for 'bikernis', hijab rider

  • | Friday | 22nd February, 2019

Roshni, who is doing her master's in Arab Islamic Culture, says she has been riding bikes for the past three years. "Another of the influencers at the commune is Delhi-based college student Roshni Misbah, known as the "hijabi biker". CHENNAI: This weekend, the shores of Mamallapuram will pulsate with the roar of bikes as more than 150 motorcycle clubs and thousands of biking enthusiasts will get together for a Big Biking Commune It promises to be South India's biggest motorcycle festival, says event organizer R Ramasubramaniyan. "I wanted to show people nothing is impossible. "I entered Iran as the first world traveller and got permission to cross the country on my bike and gave speeches in different states of Iran to make authorities aware that biking has nothing against any religion.

CHENNAI: This weekend, the shores of Mamallapuram will pulsate with the roar of bikes as more than 150 motorcycle clubs and thousands of biking enthusiasts will get together for a Big Biking Commune It promises to be South India's biggest motorcycle festival, says event organizer R Ramasubramaniyan. While on the one hand there will be bike stunts to watch, off-roading courses to participate in, beach volleyball games, and entertainment, Ramasubramaniyan says there will be talks by 'influencers' from the biking community, several among them being women bikers who are campaigning for gender rights.Maral Yazarloo Patrick rode more than 1 lakh kilometers across 44 countries between to campaign for freedom of expression for womenFirst on that list is Maral Yazarloo Pattrick of Iran, who rode solo more than 1,00,000 kilometers solo across 44 countries between 2017 and 2018 to campaign for freedom of expression for women.Maral, 37, came to the country a few years ago to complete a PhD in marketing at Pune University, and loved the idea of being able to ride a bike, which was something she was forbidden from doing in Iran.Which was why she ensured the last stop on her world journey was her home country."I entered Iran as the first world traveller and got permission to cross the country on my bike and gave speeches in different states of Iran to make authorities aware that biking has nothing against any religion. I made appeals to authorities to allow women to get licenses for bikes and cars," says Maral, who got married on the South America leg of her journey, was pregnant during her India leg, and gave birth to her child Lakshmi in November 2018, two months after her ride."I wanted to show people nothing is impossible."Another of the influencers at the commune is Delhi-based college student Roshni Misbah, known as the "hijabi biker". Roshni, who is doing her master's in Arab Islamic Culture, says she has been riding bikes for the past three years."I want to show people that religion and culture should not hold women back from doing what they like," says Roshni, who has done a Kashmir to Kanyakumari ride on her superbike to campaign for education of the girl child. "When girls from my community see me riding a superbike with my hijab on, it sends a message," she says.Another group that will be present at the commune are the Bikernis, an all-female biker group that was formed around eight years ago, and has now grown to become a group of more than 350 enthusiasts.The commune is ticketed for both bikers and visitors.

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