A great many girls might shy away from solo road trips on a motorcycle, but that’s where one finds Esha Gupta to be different from the crowd. The ardent biker girl from Bengaluru arrived in Ranchi on Monday evening to establish that India is not as unsafe for women as portrayed widely.
Riding a red Bajaj Avenger 220 DTSi, Esha will cover 38,000 km touching 17 states during her 110 days long journey which she began on January 26. On an average, she covers 350-400 km every day, going through cities in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. The ride has been supported by Throttle club, an online motorcycling forum for bikers.
The 37-year old biker has already traversed 7000 km on the golden quadrilateral back in 2014. The motive behind both the journeys has been the same – to refute the notion that women in India are unsafe if they are alone. She clarifies that this is not to encourage the miscreants but clear the negativity that has been doing the rounds about women safety in India. In her second and longer tour, she will touch smaller towns and cities of the nation so as to propagate her message among a wider crowd.
Arriving at Ranchi, Esha was received by representatives of Junior Chamber of India (JCI) at Pandr, where she was felicitated to honour her endeavour. Interacting with media persons later, Esha said, “I have arrived at Ranchi via Hazaribagh after covering Bihar. The journey by far has been quite a good experience and people in all states have been very cooperative. I did not have to face difficulties on their part anywhere.”
“We need to take inspiration from Esha for her strong will. Women have not been allowed to rise in the patriarchal society, but Esha is an example that women can achieve any avenue if they set their mind to it,” said JCI president Narayan Murarka.