The driving spirit

THERE ARE two kinds of women in most metros - those who drive their own vehicle and those who envy others who drive their own vehicle. I belonged to the latter, till I was asked to write about the former. Two-wheeler driving schools also made an excellent subject, specially the all-women shows. With the lofty ideal of understanding my subjects better, I joined one such class. To begin with, I wobbled as much on the outside as I did on the inside. Put through the paces of pushing and balancing, it was sweat, sweat and tears. Add to that the embarrassment of making a spectacle of myself, even as twenty nothings whizzed past with a zing and a swing. But the rewards of perseverance were not just sweet, they were completely unexpected as well. Soon I was riding, if not like the wind, at least with it.

Which is pretty much what Subhasri Kartik had in mind when she came from Calcutta (she doesn't know why, but "girls don't cycle in Calcutta"). Self-taught because it was too inconvenient to go all the way to one of the established classes, she has since graduated to teaching (Phone : 3723058 / 98410-10359) for the last five years in "my suburb of KK Nagar".

The "independence and freedom" of riding a two-wheeler makes her "feel on top of the world" - something impossible to replicate even in the posher confines of her Esteem.

This 31-year old tells her students with witty irony that she "doesn't know how to cycle, even today!"

Durga Chandrasekhar, who has been featured on everything, from the BBC to her neighbourhood newspaper, runs "The first driving school in the world for women" at Adyar (Phone : 4415523).

Her teaching seems as much about empowerment of women, for she says, "In our conservative society while it might not seem very right for a woman to go to a movie or a restaurant alone, it's perfectly respectable to ride a two-wheeler. Young women learn to ride to go to work or college, in their 30s, they learn so that they can drop their children in school, a 40-50 year old learns because she is just finding time to do things she enjoys, while the 50 plus needs it for everything, from visiting a doctor to paying the electricity bill".

Valli Valliappan, who runs the Valli Driving School (Phone: 4364815/ 98400-43648) at T. Nagar, says, "The best way to improve your riding skills is to keep practising" and agrees that a very important part of the job is to help nervous women overcome their self-doubts. She has students from across all ages for, as she so succinctly puts it, "There is no retirement for women."

A thought echoed by Janaki Rajagopalan, 60, who is taking care of her husband recovering from a major illness.

She faced questions like "Are you sure you don't want to retire?" boldly and overcame the fear of falling at her age, simply because she wanted to be rid of the auto menace, specially during emergencies , and get back home quickly and economically. Srividya, who teaches at the Murali Driving School in Nanganallur (Phone : 2331667), finds "motivation is most important" and "not out of boasting" tells those who come to her that she is equally comfortable on the heavy 350 cc Bullet.

It's that kind of inspirational talk which motivates a Sumathi Ramachandran, who had never even cycled, to make the first hesitant move and then find that "I rely on my two-wheeler so much so that it is now difficult to manage even on the odd day when I have to give it for servicing."

With so many women waiting to take you for a ride, it's a journey you will definitely enjoy. Have a safe trip.

LALITHA SRIDHAR

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