It has just been a month since teenage biker Aishwarya Passay (19) returned from the CEAT MTV Chase the Monsoon challenge, where bikers travel from the driest to the wettest parts of India, from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to Cherrapunji in Meghalaya on a 13,500 km long journey. With her teammate Madhuri Bisarahalli, she travelled the breadth of the country in 24 days, where she rode for 6,800 km and was the pillion rider for the rest of the journey.
The only all-girl team among three other teams in the challenge she says she saw the best and the worst of India on the ride. “The roads till Madhya Pradesh are so bad. But in Cherrapunji, they have such amazing clean roads. The ride was smooth and beautiful; it was heaven; it was like a fairytale,” she gushes. “Right upto the Living Roots Bridge in Cherrapunji, we were blessed to see these sights,” she says, after having explored the local sights as per the theme they were given – Nature . Each team followed a theme during the journey ranging from cuisine, heritage, culture to nature, which is aimed at enhancing their experience.
Aishwarya owns a KTM Duke 200 and has been using it regularly for eight months now. “I have been biking for three years on my brother’s bike. I’ve always had a fascination for learning new things. I was fascinated by bikers, and I initially learnt to shift gears, after which one thing led to another and I started biking seriously.”
Having started quite young, even before she was eligible for a driver’s licence, she says, when asked if she got into trouble with cops, “No, I have been lucky. I’m quite tall and have been a basketball player and swimmer. The athletic look probably worked.”
Aishwarya, who just completed Class XII at Surana Independent Pre-University College, Bangalore, will soon be off to Paris School of Business to specialise in a course on Stock Commodities. Asked what she has to say to aspiring female bikers, she says, “If you have the will, you can do it. There is nothing like ‘you have to be well-built to be a biker’. It’s just confidence and technique. The tricky part is shifting gears. Once you’re not conscious about that, you can vroom away,” she chuckles.
suraksha@newindianexpress.com