The Lady On The Bike
Shyni Rajkumar
Shyni Rajkumar a native of Thiruvananthapuram was a born athlete and had been playing cricket at state level representing Kerala since her school days, but destiny had something different for her ; later she put on her gloves, gear and helmet– not as a cricketer but to gear up her journey as the Kerala’s first lady bullet rider. Women can embark on space shuttle, fly planes and drive trains but when it’s about riding bikes with gears, eyebrows are raised and eyelids batted ; she did not care for a hoot though. She was brought up as a free bird without any restrictions at home and her face lights up when she speaks about her mom. The mommy-daughter relationship is so strong and transparent that bonding always remained as a stepping stone for all her success and achievements. Though from her younger days
Shyni had a curious eye for bikes – believe it or not, she did not even attempt to ride a cycle in her younger days . After her graduation, she, in a search to place herself in a good career, went to Gorakhpur to take up the role as a PT teacher in a school managed by her cousin. It was there, first she rode a bicycle for the convenience of commutation, which she later upgraded to a TVS Victor. Meanwhile She got recruited into Delhi police service on 2003 and after a short period of working there she quit the job to return to her native place in Kerala in 2006 . When in Kerala, she took up a job with Kotak Mahindra and she badly wanted a vehicle to commute. Her dad had a Hero Honda back in those days but she did not have the confidence to ride on it , and It was her cousin Jayaprakash (who said ours is a male chauvinist society?) motivated her and rekindled the passion out of her. She gave a try on the Hero Honda and then there was no looking back but her natives had some difficulty to adjust with – many looked askance while only a very few in awe .Even some ‘well-wishers’ out of their ‘good will’ towards her, went to the extreme of admonishing her parents. In spite of all these, she took that vehicle as her mode of travel and what followed, from there she went for a Pulsar and then jointly with her brother invested on a standard bullet, was later the first owner of the latest version of the Royal Enfield – The Himalyan . By this time a lot of ladies came forward and expressed their interests in bike riding ,so to bring all the lady bikers together she started a bike riders club exclusively for ladies – ‘Dauntless Royal Explorers’ the first one in Kerala which has now around 250 lady bike enthusiasts as members.
She is also associated with many other women empowerment groups. But she as a lady biker had not experienced any sort of male egotism, but on the contrary it was the sterner sex who supported and assisted her in all her attempts including her works to empower women .The brutal murder of Soumya , that happened in a running train , the one that shocked Kerala’s conscience , as it did to every one , shook shiny as well . As a homage to Soumya and to create awareness in the people and to instil boldness and confidence among her kind ,she herself became the role model and cut through Kanyakumari to Ladakh – around 15000 km trip in 50 days The ride was flagged off from Manaveeyam veedhi, the cultural corridor of Thiruvananthapuram . Two biker friends too accompanied with her though they parted their ways at Leh later . The first day itself she faced the biggest hurdle – she met with an accident and her bike was damaged beyond repairs though she came out unscathed. She was in a dilemma as she had no idea how to move ahead – all her parked fund for the journey may get used up as the repair charges of the bike . Helpless, she got in touch with the regional service manager of the Royal Enfield, Mr Bino Job to get the bike repaired and he quickly made all the arrangements and after laborious hours the bike was back into shape so that she could continue with her sojourn .She remember with gratitude because if it was not for the Royal Enfield officials’ timely act and good will she could not have made the journey possible – not a penny was taken as the repair charges though it amounted to around 50000 Rs .She says that eventful journey had made her know and experience what true love and commitment is and she beams up when she narrates her heart-warming experiences that she had had all the way. Her full gratitude is towards her husband who stood like a sturdy rock behind all her adventures. If it was not for him she would not have gone this far. Say the word – bullet –this lady is on fire but there is an another side for her that is now seeing light, she is an artist who loves to draw and paint. The quarantine days were against her true nature, for the first time she had to sit home and she transited all her energy into beautiful drawings and paintings .Soon she will conduct an exhibition of her Art at her home.
To listen more to Shyni please log on to our Prayaana “The future talks ‘Webinar.” https://youtu.be/0lIAPlMKn9Q
