BENGALURU : Moving beyond time, distance and speed, Drivenv4.0 organised by Zeroin, is a rally where close to 250 women will get together and drive, for a cause. This series of rallies have been organised with the intention to shatter myths around women drivers. The previous one, Driven.v3, was organised to prove that women can drive uphill, with a drive to Nandi Hills.
This is the first time the rally is being used as a platform to build awareness around a number of issues. The project head of Driven, Vivek More, says, “This is a platform to create awareness about a cause close to your heart – we are telling participants to choose their own cause and their own NGO.”NGOs engaged in causes such as animal welfare, widow empowerment, menstrual hygiene and more, have partnered with the event.
Nisha Verma, a participant at the rally, has opted to raise awareness on widow empowerment, as she feels that while there are a number of NGOs working with women, there is a need to help widowed women, who are often overlooked. Nisha says, “I opted to support widow empowerment because I lost my husband eleven years back. I was completely devastated, but I have come out of it now. I relate to them, connect with them and hope to help them overcome their problems.”
Asha Prakasha, the founder of Abhayahastha Foundation, will be driving to raise awareness on the menstrual hygiene among women in rural areas. She says she wants to open the discussion on female hygiene, female sexuality and desire in to the public domain. “It’s a taboo discussing menstrual hygiene on a public forum. Right now, the theme is menstrual hygiene, but the sexuality will also be looked at.”
The donations from the rally will be directly transferred to the respective NGO.
Apart from this, the winner of the rally will be awarded `1 lakh to champion her cause. While a majority of the participants are from Bengaluru, a lot have also come from other cities such as Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai. The event will see participants having to perform tasks on the way, and the winners will also receive certificates and trophies. After flagging off at Miraya Greens, Bannerghatta Road, the participants will stop for lunch at Ramanashree California Resort, Doddaballapur Road, and the event will come to an end with a dinner at the Bowring Institute. The rally has been scheduled for July 15. To join, call on 99454 84244, or visit womandriven.org