Ghaziabad, UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI :

New Delhi :

She oozes attitude in her black leather jacket, jeans and high-heeled boots, her head covered in a hijab. But that is not why Roshni Misbah makes heads turn in Jamia Millia Islamia. What does is the way she moves — on a mean orange-red-and-black motorbike that leaves behind a trail of throaty retorts when she zooms by.
People unaccustomed to such derring-do on a tradition-bound campus are slowly coming to terms with the phenomenon of Misbah, a 22-year-old who is pursuing an MA degree in Arabic and Culture Studies at the university. She is also an online sensation. For those who think a woman should, at most, aspire to a scooter, she is a slap in the face.

“I am a member of groups like the Windchasers and Delhi Royal Enfield Riders, and was part of the Bajaj Avengers Club at the time I owned an Avenger bike,” said the girl from Ghaziabad. She also believes that she is one of the youngest members of Bikerni, an all-woman biker group in Delhi that aims at gender empowerment through female motorcyclists.

These days, she flashes by on a Rs 2-lakh, 250 cc Honda CBR Repsol. It has been a longish journey since the time her father, himself a lover of motorcycles and owner of, among others, a monstrous Suzuki Intruder 1800, said he would get her a Vespa when she declared pillion rides with him had whetted her keenness to become a biker.

She was in Class IX at Cambridge School when her wish was fulfilled. She learnt to ride a bike by herself and later managed to buy the Avenger, on which she perfected her skills. Her embracing of an unusual pursuit made her an immediate heroine for her two younger siblings and their friends.

Misbah knew she was doing something different, especially for a girl from a conservative community. But everyone around her — from family to friends and teachers — rallied around her. “My teachers even gave me a special parking slot near the Indo-Arab Centre on the campus,” she said. Her teacher, Jawed Khan, director, Centre for West Asian Studies, described her as a sincere student who remained attached to her culture despite being passionate about bikes. A friend, Fareed Farooqui, who too is a superbike rider, felt that “other girls should do whatever they wish to, like Roshni”.

Thankful to the vast majority who have endorsed her passion, Misbah also recalled that there were a few who criticised her for not conforming to the accepted image of a woman. The confident super biker believes that she is doing her bit to break down such stereotypes and hopes instead “to inspire more and more girls to follow their desires”.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Delhi News / by Mohammad Ibrar, TNN / January 28th, 2017