Pedal power

Naureen Kanwal encourages women to become more self-reliant by riding a motorbike

Riding a motorbike is no longer a boys’ club activity; women world over have clocked some serious mileage to experience the empowerment. In Pakistan, however, this change is approaching slowly, but steadily. A twenty-two-year-old from Rawalpindi, Naureen Kanwal, is one of the few who have embarked on this daunting journey to challenge existing stereotypes and encourage more women to ride in independence.

From practicing martial arts to painting and a full-time job as a radio jockey, Kanwal had a lot of distance to cover every day. Therefore, in order to reduce her dependence on flakey public transport she turned to a motorbike for commute. In 2010, with the help of neighbours, Kanwal took two days to learn how to ride. Confident that their daughter was ready to take to the open roads, Kanwal’s parents gifted her a motorbike soon after.

Being the only woman riding a bike on the road, Kanwal says, “In the beginning, people used to treat me like an alien.” But the stares from passers-by did not faze her, she adds. Initially, Kanwal rode the motorbike without a license and was regularly harassed by traffic wardens. To rectify matters, she approached the local traffic police office to apply for one, only to be rejected thrice. She was not approved for a learner’s permit and the rejection hinted at gender bias.

PHOTO : MUHAMMAD DAUD KHAN

Traffic officials discouraged Kanwal by repeating statements such as, “It’s not your field,” “riding a bike is unsafe for a girl,” and “it is not accepted in our society”. But words did little to dissuade her and Kanwal visited the traffic police office regularly until she finally cleared the test to receive a 42-day learner’s permit.

After obtaining the permit a road-signs test was to follow and Kanwal could feel the pressure. Whether it was nervousness, a lack of preparation or luck, she failed the first attempt. Eager to cross yet another hurdle, Kanwal spent the mandatory seven days’ gap between tests to study harder and succeeded in clearing at second attempt. After that the only thing standing in between her and her motorbike was a tricky road-test in front of a traffic warden.

Kanwal recalls the day of the test with a winner’s smile. “The examination officer passed me and congratulated me on a perfect ride,” she says. After two years her journey to gain independence had finally come to end and she became a registered license holder in 2012.

By proving herself to be just as qualified a driver as her male counterparts Kanwal has once and for all silenced critics who say ‘women cannot ride a bike’. “I always obey traffic laws and have never received a ticket in five years,” she claims. Despite the freedom that comes from riding a bike, Kanwal is weary of safety and wears a gender-neutral outfit along with proper biking gear. Recalling a case of mistaken identity on the road once, Kanwal says, “One evening I gave a police constable a lift. I was fully covered so he didn’t know he was sharing a bike with a woman. When I dropped him off, he said thanks to which I said it was my pleasure. He just blushed after figuring it out.”

Going beyond her achievements, Kanwal has also been selected into the Anti-Narcotics Force as an assistant sub-inspector. Fulfilling her father’s dreams of donning a uniform, Kanwal will soon join the training academy. “I feel honoured to serve my country in uniform,” she says. Just last month Pakistan lost Flying Officer Marium Mukhtiar, one of the few serving female pilots in the air force, in a crash during a training flight. But Mukhtiar’s courage and that of Kanwal’s to take the road not taken will inspire countless women to pave their own path even when the tide of opinion is against them.

Muhammad Daud Khan is an Islamabad-based freelance journalist. He tweets @daudpasaney 

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, December 20^th, 2015.