It is quite an honour to publish this post. Indian girls have really broken the shackles to turnaround the stereotype approach of the society. Girls like Mira Erda,Sneha Sharma, Neharika Yadav and Alisha have broken many records and have proved a benchmark for current generation. Lets have a look at some of the next gen power girls.
Mira Erda
Mira Erda was born and brought up in Gujarat. She started Karting at the age of 8 on a track build by her father. She became an active racer at the tender age of 9 and was the youngest girl in the Indian Motorsport circuit at the national level. She was competing in the LBG formula 4 till last year. She even defeated stronger and bigger boys by winning the rookie champion of the year during the FMSCI awards.
Mira has already participated in about 75 races both at the national and interntional level. She is going to race for JK Euro which features the BMWFB02 thus becoming one of the youngest Indian drivers to race at this level. But her journey was not that easy. The trainer during her karting days was not at all supportive. It was all due to the efforts and the investment of her dad which encouraged her to choose motosports as a career.
Dr.Neharika Yadav
In a sport dominated by men Dr Neharika is the only super bike racer in the country. She balances her twin pursuits of dentistry and being the fastest women on bike. Her journey from books to track was very challenging.She had an accident while pursuing dentistry and and she lost movement on her right hand. She had to consult various experts for rectifying her right hand. Finally a surgery from USA ensured 50 percent movement of the arm.
After her surgery she was determined to follow both her profession and her passion. Years of determined practice and the guidance of senior and pro fellow riders nurtured the bike racer in her. Dr Neharika started her biking journey with Honda CBR 250 and then shifted to KTM 390RC. Finally she got the taste of Ducati 899 Penigale. She has already completed 2000 kilometres of superbiking at the Buddh International circuit. She truly deserved the destiny- Fastest Superbiker Lady in the Country!
Sneha Sharma
Fueled by her passion Sneha Sharma knew exactly what career she wanted to pursue even when she was 16 years old. Today this girl is not only the fastest racer in the country but also a pilot with Indigo airlines.
Sneha Sharma’s mother took her to a local track in Mumbai when she was 16 years old. In 2010 she graduated to cars from karts and has also competed in the JK tyre national racing championship. She secured second position in her 4 stroke category at the JK tyre national karting championship 2009. Sneha Sharma was also shortlisted for the 2015 Volkswagen Vento Cup and the Toyota Etios Cup in India. Sneha Sharma also competed in Mercedes Young Star Program and secured top 5 position. She eventually got the title of India’s fastest female racer. Her journey in the racing arena has been a hard struggle. Being a girl and belonging not to so rich background she did not get sponsorship fees and qualified instructors. She learnt basics of braking and cornering from the simple mechanics.
She has to work at various positions on the race track to sustain herself in the racing competition. Being a commercial pilot at Indigo Airlines she had to giggle between her profession and her passion. The racing is scheduled in such a way that sometimes there are six races in a month. So she has to plan well in advance to pursue her passion. She was also offered racing seats in Germany and Malaysia. Overall she has won 6 race victims and 14 runner up positions.
Alisha Abdullah
Alisha Abdullah has got the unique distinction of being the only Indian women super bike racer and the fastest Indian woman car racer and fastest Indian woman car racer. She has also acted in a Tamil movie Irumbu Kuthirai!
Alisha has been fascinated by racing since she was a kid. At the age of 13 she won MRF national go karting championship. Alisha has got huge distinction of becoming the first Indian woman to get a podium finish in an International Motosport Competition,the Toyota Vios Cup in 2014. Alisha switched from four wheels to two wheels in 2004.
Competing at the various car racing events was becoming an expensive affair for the Alisha’s family and so she shifted towards motorbike racing. Alisha Abdullah has started her own Racing Academy at the outskirts of Chennai.She wants more and more women to represent India on the global platforms in the years to come.
source: wikipedia, huffington post india
(This article is written by Gourav Saksham, a dentist by profession and a Petrohead by passion. You can connect with him at gouravsaksham@gmail.com)