Sana Iqbal, a solo biker, is on a mission to create awareness against suicide and on depression

The wheels of life often take unchartered routes and open new vistas, just as they did for biker and life coach Sana Iqbal from Hyderabad. A personal reversal had driven the young mother to abject depression, even to a point when she hoped a bike accident on the highway would bring a quick end to her misery. But then things changed. Today, the 28-year-old is journeying solo across the length and breadth of the country conducting sessions on tackling issues related to the young. So Sana talks on matters that trouble young minds from subjects as innocuous as acne problems to complex ones on relationships, career, marriage, depression and suicide. She is simultaneously pursuing a Master’s in Psychology and does corporate training sessions on behavioural skills.

Though she began young as a biker, as early as in school, she took to hardcore riding only last September. Till then she drove not beyond 20 km of central Hyderabad. But in a desperate state, Sana undertook a long solo journey. There she found support and encouragement from unexpected quarters. Passers-by cheered her, children gathered around her in curiosity and waved her luck as she rode; little gestures that alleviated her grief. A change in mindset came about. She felt that solution to life’s problems was in perception, in looking at the other side. With it also came a desire to help society with this thinking, to propagate a positive attitude among youngsters and her peers.

“When the aspirations of a normal life fail then extraordinary things happen.” she says on her decision to undertake this ride of a lifetime, a mission. Make happiness contagious is her message to fellow beings, which is imprinted boldly on a placard fixed to her Royal Enfield.

Sana began the ride in November from Goa, where she had been participating in a rally. So far she has covered 10 States and Kochi is the 50th city she has visited. She starts her day early and ends at sunset. Local people and truck drivers are her navigators and she rides along where the road takes her to. She carries a knife with her, one that she has never needed. “Our country is the safest place for women,” she says, dispelling the prevailing idea that India is unsafe for women. As a lone female rider she has not encountered any problems that have required help. On the contrary she has found camaraderie everywhere she has been to. In Jhansi where her bike had a flat, she was not charged any fee. In fact, the gentleman commended her efforts and requested her to disseminate the message that Uttar Pradesh is safe and not a lawless state as thought to be. An accident in Rajasthan left her frightened but she changed a hostile situation by her approach. “When the man whose car had hit my bike came to see what had happened, when I least expected the gesture, I said thank you. He was so startled at my response and wondered why I was not threatening him,” she recalls pointing out that kind words can change a situation.

To control one’s anger and to be forgiving are two messages that she wishes to give youngsters. India’s burgeoning biker community is her network, friends that help her with boarding, lodging and connectivity.

In the city, Sana addressed students at Chinmaya Vidyalaya and at SCMS College. From here she moves on to Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari. The North East States are next on her plan.

“Every State has a different traffic sense. Kerala has narrow roads and Rajasthan wide ones but it has a lot of animal traffic. Each place has its beauty,” says Sana preparing her onward mission. “We all want to ‘be the change’ but only a few step out to bring in that change. I hope my act will help do so,” she says, putting on her helmet.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Priyadershini S / Kochi – March 16th, 2016