Why don’t women ride bikes in Pakistan?
She sailed past my car as the light turned amber, a woman on a bicycle, and no, she was not a passenger, she was at the wheel. We were all, she, I, and the men staring bug eyed at her (I have to admit I was bug eyed myself) in DHA, just opposite Masjid Chowk in Lahore that bastion of Punjabi ghairat.
Wonder, worry, excitement, all rattled around in my head like a box of liquorice allsorts. Who was she, and why was she doing this? Was she aware of the looks, laughter and lewd comments that rained about her? How wonderful that someone had the courage to do this! I prayed she was a harbinger of some huge change.
She was clearly not a bike rally contestant in training. Wearing a pink shalwar kameez, yellow dupatta and beat-up chappals, she rode an inexpensive bicycle, what used to be Rustum or Sohrab, black and scratched with a paranda hanging off the handlebars. I judged her to be a cleaning lady on her way to work.
I drove alongside her, trying to catch her expression, and you know what, she looked neither worried nor scared. Whip-cord tough she was cycling quite effortlessly. To someone who has cycled, albeit not in the land of the censorious, and was aware that even a flat stretch of road develops Himalayan slopes and grand canyons for cyclists, this indicated one thing and one thing alone: she was used to this particular exercise.
I had a wild urge to follow her, to shield her with my car from the jeers and more that would surely come her way, to congratulate her when we both stopped, to caution her, offer her a job on the spot, anything, but then she turned away from my route and I was left writing this.
You’d think that in a country like Pakistan where women work in spite of purda and other constraints they’d be riding bicycles and motorcycles not because they wanted to but because they must, but they don’t. And when they do use either of these modes of transport, as passengers, they sit side saddle.
Have you ever tried sitting side saddle on a bike of any sort? I have, behind my husband when he offered to show me around his farm and surrounding land on a motorbike. In the five short minutes while I was seated behind him and before I fell off, my respect for Pakistani women went up a hundred fold, mingled with anger. I thought of all those women dressed in trailing fussy clothes and gold sandals seated side saddle behind their lord and master, children in front, behind and in between, infants on laps, the whole family going to visit the jumma bazaar or some other dazzling place of entertainment…and don’t shoot me, I know there’s little choice.
Can the Pakistani male not even handle the sight of a woman seated astride a cycle? And this, the home of Fatima Jinnah, Nigar Ahmed, Bilquis Edhi, Mukhtaran Mai and Asma Jahangir!
Indian men are clearly stronger. I asked an Indian friend if women cycled in India, and she said she used to cycle herself some years ago ‘when I went to school, college etc, in a small town and got heckled, followed and once, even fondled. Thankfully the same is no longer true. Women in the cities use scooters. They ride pillion, side saddle as well as astride. Schoolgirls and boys use cycles to go to and from school and they are mostly unchallenged and unbothered. Of course I’m talking about Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and cities where I’ve lived/visited. In Punjab it’s a bit more conservative.’
In which case (as in many other instances), Pakistan has gone backwards. I know that my aunts biked many miles to university and medical school about fifty years ago in Lahore, as did other cousins for a decade more. And then what happened?
The Pakistani male needs to understand that expressing his manhood is not about being able to spit long and accurately right in someone’s path just before they pass, and it is definitely not about keeping his woman in a cage, especially not those in the Punjab, who could do with the exercise.
My friend also wrote, ‘Our aunties told us to stop riding bicycles because we would get muscular legs, and then who would marry a girl with fat thighs?’
And that does not apply to the Punjab either.
woah! this piece is full of blatant racsim against punjabis and perpetuates racist stereotypes.If any columnist had written such things about muhajirs,sindhis or balochs,everyone would have been fuming against the injustice done to the smaller brothers,but in today's pakistan racist hate against punjabis is not only tolerated but actively promoted by the media.
So what's new,one more article by another self-hating punjabi.
get a life, guys. where's your sense of humour?
Wow…what an interesting article. Good for the woman riding the bicycle. It shouldn't matter what other peope think!
In indian Punjab, a girl on cycle is routine. In fact the Govt. is giving cycles free to school going girls.
I don't think it is anti Punjabi the fact is Pakistani are gone rats about silly things we are truly in dark ages of our history.. really! , riding and bigotry issues which really do not hold any value in any time in human history. It is a beyond a logical person if a person is going from point A to B the way they like without harming anyone then why the hell we have an issue it. Get real.. get working.. get going get moving forward. We cant even give clean water to our generation and we waste time on such issues. !!! let them bike if the want to.. the people who have problem with woman riding bicycle would give them thier own car and provide safe and secure transportation.. oo man..!!
I live in Holland and have cycled all my life. I remember a story of my cousin who also grew up in Europe and was used to cycling. Her parents took her to Pakistan for her further education in the '80s. Our family roots are in Kashmir, Kotli. Once there she loved it, but didn't like that she wasn't allowed to cycle anymore. It just "wasn't done by females". When she told me years later I was shocked. Saoudi Arabia makes a problem if females drive cars, Pakistan makes a problem if a female cycles, but allows females to drive cars. I don't understand this. I'm sure not all Pakistani people have issues with it or else they wouldn't let Pakistani females ride a bike outside of Pakistan. My mother and I have both cycled a lot here in Holland. I still go to most places on my bike and I often take my children on cycling trips. It's an important part of our lives. I hope things will change in Pakistan. Cycling is healthy, doesn't cost much so you save a lot money otherwise spent on fuel or taxi fees or public transport, it's also better for the environment, you have no parking problems with a bike.
How do women/girls manage going around if they don't use a scooter/motorcycle? They have to go around to work, do stuff, don't they? The city I'm from in India, its absolutely normal that girls/women ride a scooter/motorcycle. No one would even bat an eyelid if it's the girl/woman who is riding the scooter and a boy/man is sitting behind her, after all that would only mean that she is the one who owns the scooter. As far as bicycle is concerned, the traffic is too chaotic, dangerous and fast for any person whether man or woman.
I didnt read your column fully, but i do agree with you. it is saving grace for girls and women to ride bikes than to fumble themselves on bus stops and stuff among bad eyes men.
I am cyclist too , i do mountain biking plus in capital city. I take it completly normal. bad asses are evrywhere if they make faces , pass comments or try to harrass you , they can do it otherwise too. I am very happy with the idea that i am not dependent upon other transports . I think all of us should convience Pakistan's motor bike industry to manufacture ladies motor bikes too , as in India they are making. Cycling is a sport it cost you just a packet of Nimkool to hydrate yourself all and keep electrolyte balance in body
I dont think this is anti punjabi at all. We dont see women cyclists ANYWHERE in Pakistan…good article Rabia!
In the panting rush to find racism in this article, some people seem to have swept right by its main point. Great commentary on the conflicting and irrational demands made of half Pakistan’s population!
Not true about Indian Punjab. Women rides bikes freely as any other city. I am Indian Punjabi myself.
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