10 countries, 10000 kilometers of riding for a cause: Save the Girl Child

With the aim of promoting the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' mission started by the government of India, a team of four Indian women bikers- Yugma Desai, Khyati N. Desai and Durriya M. Tapia led by Sarika Mehta will embark on a 10 nation biking tour. A distance of around 10000 kilometers will be covered in 36 days across Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, during which these ladies will get in touch with several non-governmental organizations working at the grassroots with the objective of propagating positive opinions around the girl child.

The expedition was formally kicked-off at the Nepal Embassy

The expedition was flagged off by Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae in Kathmandu in Nepal on June 6. Beginning the expedition from Nepal comes at an opportune time as the nation saw its first woman president in Bidhya Devi earlier this year. In fact, the four Indian bikers had the opportunity of meeting the  Nepalese president as well.

Also read: Celebrate the girl child: Say these Bokaro women

Majority of the South Asian societies are patriarchal in nature, where women are viewed as a liability. Hence their right to a quality life is ignored. Speaking at a press conference at the Nepal Embassy, from where the odyssey officially kicked off, team leader Sarika said:

Many feel women are a burden. We want to demolish the myth. We want to send out the message that women in this part of the world are already empowered; we want to show that women are not a burden on society

Sharing the important message through the unconventional means of women bikers seems to be a great step forward as interacting with such women help people look at the new, so called 'unconventional' woman in a more regularized way.

Feature Image Credit: Newskarnataka.com