Four Women Bikers, One Mission

Four Women Bikers, One Mission

Driven by passion and riding high on a mission to promote the newly created Telangana state, four women bikers reached the Temple City on Tuesday as part of their expedition to cover seven nations in seven weeks.

The women motorcycle enthusiasts, Jai Bharathi, Shilpa Balakrishnan, Shanthi and Piya Bahadur, have set off on ‘Road to Mekong’ to showcase Telangana tourism. Through the expedition, they would be promoting all the tourist destinations of Telangana along with others across the country. Led by Jai Bharathi, who is also the first woman to win the Go UNESCO Challenge in 2012 by visiting all the 28 UNESCO world heritage sites in India within a year, the bikers are also keen to drive across the message of women empowerment.

Talking to MCL, Jai Bharathi said, “There are many beautiful places to see in India and we want to promote all those places. Bikers and their expeditions always attract the attention of people, so we thought if women bikers come up with such an expedition, it will create more buzz and people would be more interested to know about us and our motive. Of course, we are also showcasing women power here.”

“Our aim is to visit 19 UNESCO World Heritage sites in five nations and promote about the 35 UNESCO world heritage sites in India. In the process, we will also showcase the Telangana culture and tradition,” she said.

Piya Bahadur, who is taking forward the ‘legacy of biking’ from her father, shared, “My father went on a solo bike expedition from India to Paris. Being his proud daughter, I am simply following the tradition he started. Covering seven countries in 50 days would be interesting and would also help us understand the culture of different places.”

During the expedition, they will cover India’s neighbouring Southeast Asian nations through the newly laid India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. In India, they will cover Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Manipur before crossing over to the South Asian and ASEAN regions of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. While returning, they will cover the states of Nagaland, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Along with the bikers, a backup vehicle with spares and a film crew to document the expedition is also a part of the team.