Lining up on the track for a 110 cc bike race, a very young Alisha Abdullah received a withering look. It came from her competitors, all of them boys. It seemed to say: “Pay a little attention to the fact that you are a girl.” She did. She paid as little attention as possible to it and finished second.
She did not stop with the triumph, content she had made her point. She went on to show a woman can live by the wheel. As much as a man can. She has ridden bikes and cars on the race track. With podium finishes and wider visibility, came the rewards. She has been brand ambassador for products connected with automobiles, motor racing and rarely, those absolutely unrelated to either of them.
Another one to have proved wheels can power a woman’s life is Chithra Priya. In a totally different way, though. An endurance biker, she goes on long rides racing against the clock. The rides are meticulously planned and more importantly, backed by sponsors.
The sponsor comes on board because he is assured of publicity. “First, there is publicity during the course of the entire ride, which sometimes stretches across the country,” says Chithra. Recently, she rode from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in six days, accompanied by another woman biker, Sukhmani Gill from Chandigarh, who works as a data analyst in Chennai.
“I create video blogs of such rides and upload them in real time. These rides are also promoted across social media,” explains Chithra. And then, she invariably attempts to create records through these rides, a factor that helps create a buzz about them.
As a poster girl for long-distance biking, she is also invited to test, review and endorse automobile products.
For both the girls, achieving such visibility took hard work. Real hard work, as Alisha would put it. To be noticed, Alisha had to first race against men on the track. Which automatically meant she had to spend countless hours at the gym.
“Being super fit is necessary when you are competing with men,” says Alisha. With childlike glee, she narrates how she beat a guy hands down in push-ups. “In a 2013 training camp for motor racers, organised by JK Tyre in Delhi, I did 55 push-ups in a minute.”
Great fitness is just as essential if you are competing with women racers from other parts of the world. Something she found out recently. In the Toyota Vios Cup, a five-podium street car racing event, conducted recently in Thailand, she finished fifth. She was amazed at the abilities of the women she raced against. “In many other countries, a woman racer is not a novelty. Given the encouragement, they are naturally good. Even the women racers from Asia drive considerably fast. Faster than many men in racing. It’s not surprising. They have breakfast, lunch and dinner on the track,” says Alisha.
In India, a woman motor racer is often something to be gawked at, in disbelief. Alisha warns young women against unrealistic expectations from motor racing. It can be an exciting career, but one fraught with challenges.
Which include, firstly, the fuddy-duddies who’ll frown at the possibility that a woman can belong to the track. It takes some deft emotional footwork to take such attitude in one’s stride. Alisha coped with it, because her father R.A. Abdullah is a great bike racer of yesteryears. Secondly, sponsorships.
They are hard to come by for anyone who is starting out. More so, for a fledgling woman racer. Here again, her father’s support proved invaluable to Alisha, especially in the early part of her 12-year career.
Thirdly, sign-ups to promote brands happen only if a woman racer hoofs it to the podium regularly. “Nobody is a fool. Unless you do consistently well, they are not going to take a second look at you,” says the 25-year-old, whose looks and racing popularity are getting noticed in tinsel town.
She played a guest role as a biker in the film Irumbu Kuthirai. She is playing a more significant role in another film, under production. Her dream is to figure in a film that is entirely about motor racing.
“I want to use the medium to bring greater visibility to motor racing,” says the girl, who plans to start an academy to train women in bike racing techniques. Alisha has a masters degree from the Loyola Institute of Business Administration.
Chithra’s challenges are way different. She often rides solo. On an endurance ride, she has to deal with quizzical looks and a laundry list of questions, while checking into a hotel at midnight. There is also the question of safety on the road. Is it worth the trouble? She says it is.
Chithra, 30, turned professional biker in 2010. In the process, she turned the taillight on many possibly great careers. She has a degree in visual communication. A masters in film making. And an MBA degree to crown it all. “Touring is a highly rewarding sport and career. You get to travel to many places. You get to meet many people.”
She says the overall attitude towards women in endurance biking is positive. The community of male bikers is particularly supportive. And she believes she is in a career that is set on the long road.
“For many, long distance biking is a great retirement plan. I have met bikers, who are in their sixties,” says Chithra. For her though, it is a career without any retirement plans.
