The scenario at Ranchi club on Sunday morning was quite different, women dressed up in boots and denims, readying their vehicles for the ultimate show caught the attention of every passerby. The first ever women’s car rally organised by Junior Chamber International (JCI) women wing ‘Udaan’ received much applaud from the city residents.
Celebrating the true spirit of ‘womanhood’, approximately 200 participants, breaking the glass ceiling drive their cars passionately along the busiest routes giving social messages to the public. The car rally which is considered to be a male dominating sport was conquered by the female drivers on Sunday here in State Capital.
The programme designed keeping in mind all international standards by the sponsors was flagged off by IG CID Sampat Meena and other dignitaries. Meena appreciated the efforts taken up by the organisation to empower girls and also encouraged this women organisation to take up such ventures in future as well.
“The attempt of the team and organisation is worth appreciating. Such projects not just create an impact on society but also encourage the females to take up something adventurous while giving a society a strong message that women are no less than men in any field,” Meena said.
Supported by Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of Jharkhand and organized in association with Ranchi Adventure Wheelers (RAW), the car rally started from Ranchi Club covering a distance of 20 Km. The participants during the two hour journey had to cross major landmarks and traffic checkpoints. The car drivers were accompanied by three other members. While the drivers had to strictly follow the route chart, the other members had to resolve the treasure hunt task as per the clue given to them by RAW before reaching the finishing point.
The cars were dented and painted with some prominent topics like save the girl child, road safety, go green go clean, pilots of Ranchi, Sabka sath sabka vikash. Matching with themes and slogans all participants were dressed up accordingly.
“This is for the first time a mega car rally event for the women, dedicated to the women and by the women is organized. Keeping all guidelines of road safety and other technical aspects, the event was planned,” said, Binita Jain, a participant and JCI ‘Udaan’ media representative.
Another participant, Kiran Tulsiyaan after finishing the rally, said, “Coming out from a comfort zone was a biggest challenge. We are preparing for the event since February. As we had a strong technical backup, we were all able to carry out the challenge confidently in a city where traffic jam is a major problem. The rally will encourage women drivers to participate in this sport in future.”
The first ever women’s car rally as termed by the organisers was categorised in five segments, the participants rubbed their shoulders for best theme car, best decorated car, best Hyundai car, best decorated Hyundai car and best veteran car. The panelists from RAW judged the event as per the car rally set standards.