Roshni Sharma rode her first bike at the age of 16, but she didn't stop at just driving around traffic jams. The love for biking was meant to become an example and inspiration for every female rider in the country who have been underestimated.
When a friend of hers told her about his trip from North India to South India, she was motivated to set on this challenging road trip herself. But no woman in India had ever embarked on such a journey herself, and instead of getting threatened by the record she got excited to change it.
Roshni says,"I had to know about the routes and weather. I learnt from my friend that only after summers does the Manali pass open. So I had to schedule my journey to after May. Also in June, many parts of Kerala get rain, so I had to push off Kerala from my itinerary completely. Basically in my entire journey, I never encountered rain! In fact, to know the routes, I just had to ask people around, talk to them for a better ideas and they were all very helpful!"
But the people she were most worried for, became her ultimate pillars of support and guidance. Be it the locals guiding the way or fellow bikers. Roshni was expecting to meet a lot of sexist remarks and eyebrow-raising at the site of a woman biker, but what she found was a pleasant surprise. As the country embraced her with all it's warmth.
If anything, her stereotype breaking experience of traveling alone in India might give many women the final and much awaited push to pack their bags and stop waiting for people to go with them. The thought is scary but Roshni's example and first hand experience makes for an inspirational story which had it it's own doubts, but conquered all. Roshni also believes that the myth about solo women travelers first needs to broken in the minds of the traveler themself.