Ride to glory!

She loves fashion, but she loves her motorbikes and challenges like riding a scooty all the way up to the Himalayan mountain tops even more! This multi-tasking lady biker Anam Hashim is making waves across the country for her biking skills and has many hundreds of women wanting to join her on this expedition. Anam now plans to undertake the challenge to ride up to the Khardung La pass — known to be the highest motorable road in the world — along with 10 other women on bikes.

“When I decided to take up the challenge, to get to the Himalayan mountain tops on a 110cc TVS Scooty, everyone around me had their questions on how it was a crazy thing to do! But when I tried the vehicle, I felt pretty confident. I knew I had to do it to prove it to myself and others. And I did ride over 2,100 kilometers over 18 days on the same bike,” Anam tells DC during her recent visit to Chennai.

Anam, who hails from Lucknow, alone, rode the stretch from Amritsar–Jammu–Ladakh–Manali in August last year, and says riding gives her the utmost happiness that nothing else can give her. “I feel at peace when I’m riding such long distances, and the rush of adrenaline keeps me going. After my first leg, many women bikers approached me for similar expeditions. So, this time I’ll be riding with 10 other women and I think it should be a lot of fun,” Anam shares.

But a challenge like this at around 18,000 feet above sea level doesn’t come without its own share of difficulties to overcome.

“There were times during these 18 days when I would feel breathless or nauseated due to the altitude, or would feel blacked out due to the sun. But, I’m glad I could keep going — no matter what the hardship was,” she says with a grin.

It was her dad’s motorbikes which got her interested in riding and trying out stunts like wheelies and stoppies, she says. “The vehicle, although it seems very petite surprised me on many levels  — be it speed or suspension. I had no back pain even after riding so many kilometers, unlike what I had imagined!” she adds.

This 21-year-old biker did her schooling in science. Although her parents wanted her to do engineering, she decided to go on with fashion as it was something close to her heart and continues biking. Quite the eclectic talent, ain’t she?

“I love fashion and keeping up with the latest trends in the industry. So, I prefer being a feminine-looking stunt girl as compared to what is commonly expected — a tomboy who rides bikes,” she laughs.

Anam adds that the increase in number of female riders in the country is a welcoming step — “I see that people appreciate and acknowledge female bikers today, and I think the country is moving towards a positive change. I hope we can keep the numbers growing.”

On the cards, there could be a road trip down the south, “maybe sometime soon too!” she signs off.