Aishwarya Pissay started racing at 18 and has been winning since then. Her goal, she tells SHALINI SAKSENA, is to participate in Dakar Rally and win the global championship

A 23-year-old off-road racer from Bengaluru is making a name in the sport for the last three years. She have won seven championships which include Women’s Category of Raid De Himalaya 2017 and 2016, Indian National Rally Championship in 2017 and 2018 and TVS Apache Ladies One Make Championship 2017. She have also won INMRC National Championship 2017.

Meet Aishwarya Pissay, who may have started her international career last year with Spain Baja but her love for motorbike took root when she was very young.

“Motorcycle was something that I always enjoyed riding and decided to train as a racer. The hunger grew and the decision to take it up professionally took root,” she says and tells you that there are multi disciplines in racing. She races in road racing and rally.

“I started with road racing where I was doing very well. Then I began rallying that is when TVS Racing signed me on in 2016,” Pissay says.

The challenge, she says, is to be physically fit. For this she trains for four  at the gym that includes mental conditioning and nutritional care. Three days in a week she conditions herself on the motorbike.

She tells you that it would incorrect to say that it is tough for women racing because they didn’t participate in the sport earlier. “Today, it is no longer male dominated. I joined because it sets me free. There is an adrenaline rush. The idea of competitiveness and the rush makes me go back to the motorbike every single time. As for other women who are there in the sport — at the end of the day, everyone loves a motorcycles. This is one common reason why there are other riders in this professionally,” Pissay tells you.

But to be part of this profession and to be accepted took time. “I come from a very conservative family. They believe in a person doing 9 am to 5 pm job. Anything else was a taboo. When I picked up the motorbike intially, they were not very happy. But then I started performing, they did accept the idea and were supportive,” Pissay recounts and tells you that she is the only one in her family to take up the sport professionally.

She used to get a lot of reaction from outsiders as well. The stereotypical questions —  what is a woman doing here — were commonplace. But it didn’t deter Pissay from the goals she has set for herself — participate in Dakar Rally, one of longest and toughest rallies in the world  and win the global championship.

For those who fear steeping in a male dominated sport, Pissay says: “There are several workshops and opportunities that have been made possible by a few manufacturers. Women need to see how they can take advantage of this and be part of this sport,” Pissay says.