Zenith Irfan: Pakistan's female biker

Updated

Pakistan's female biker

For female motorcyclist Zenith Irfan, travelling across Pakistan is a spiritual endeavour that connects her to her late father. Thought to be the first woman to ride solo long distance around Pakistan, she is confronting prejudice and inspiring others worldwide.

At only 21 years old, Zenith Irfan is tackling stereotypes head on as she rides her motorbike through the busy streets of Pakistan.

Despite meeting with stares from bystanders, she continues to ride from city to city, more concerned about reaching her destination than the people she leaves behind.

"Being on the road savages your soul," Zenith wrote on her Facebook page, where she blogs about her motorbike adventures to her 20,000 followers.

"Riding and especially going on a motorcycle tour gives a person a 360-degree vision as to what the world is like and encompasses with it," she tells the ABC.

With just the bare essentials, Zenith takes off with nothing but the open road ahead.

But travelling on the back of a bike from place to place is not just about fulfilling Zenith's adventurous spirit, it also offers a connection to her father, who passed away when she was only 10 months old.

Taking up her father's dream

One day, while sifting through some family photographs, Zenith came across a picture of her father dressed in an aviation uniform.

"Since he was in the army, he did not get much time to focus on his passions and the dream he aspired to live," she says.

At that moment, her mother told her that he wanted to go on a "crazy world motorcycle journey" and encouraged Zenith to take up his dream and live out his legacy.

At 12, Zenith started taking motorbike lessons from her brother in their hometown.

"I would just ride in the city and only knew the basics of riding," she says.

"I learnt to translate all anxiety, depression and disappointments into challenges and transformed my inner pessimistic soul to a wanderlust-craving woman," she writes in one of her blog posts.

Riding is a spiritual endeavour

But last year, at only 20 years old, she was ready to explore more of Pakistan — making the "abrupt decision" to make the journey from Lahore to Kashmir solo.

"I did this for my father and I still do it for him. For me, going and riding across Pakistan is a spiritual endeavour," she says.

It took her six days to navigate cross-country, but Zenith says she was not apprehensive about the long ride, despite Kashmir proving to be difficult terrain.

"You don't ride on the roads, the roads let you ride on them. You're totally dependent on nature itself. Scorching heat, rain, snow, storms — it's all a game of Russian roulette," Zenith writes on her blog.

"You have to keep morally supporting your riding spirit, pushing your mind and body to the extreme. Exploring all sentiments and emotions which you never knew existed in your soul."

It also gave Zenith the opportunity to prove all those who doubted her, wrong.

"I won. In the eyes of those who considered me of lesser strength, who said I could not ride 20 kilometres continuously, I won," she says.

"I proved to the world, I was no different and that a woman like me can in fact, ride a motorcycle."

But Zenith is quick to point out that while she is the first female to do this trip solo, "I did not undertake this adventure so that I would be known as the first female motorcyclist in Pakistan".

Confronting prejudice on the road

On another trip, Zenith travelled to Khunjerab Pass with her brother Sultan and some friends.

"One of the most struggling parts of riding is water crossing," Zenith says in an update on her blog.

"With a motorcycle as small as a CG-125, it can be a gruesome task and pain killing for your legs."

While many would be reluctant to get on a motorbike, let alone make a long distance journey with nothing but a few essential items, Zenith says it gives her the opportunity to confront prejudice.

"Places which have been subjected to controversy and prejudice always attract me since it gives me a chance to physically go there and see for myself if the media is right or wrong," she says.

"From across the many cities and villages I have visited, there were two that took my attention.

"The first one is called Misgar Valley and the second is called Shigar Valley. Both valleys have a high historical trademark and are known to be trade routes of the Old Silk Route."

Be a leader not a follower

Zenith has quickly built a following eager to hear of her travels through her Facebook blog but says she is shocked by the audience she has accumulated.

"I did not imagine that a simple Facebook page would lead to a large fan following in a small span of time," she says.

Despite the huge amount of support she receives online, she has also been the target of online abuse.

"A good morning message to all the haters out there. I'll answer you with love, love and just love," Zenith wrote only a few months ago on her blog.

It is this positivity that has drawn praise from many people following her success on the road.

But Zenith is modest about her impact on other women and her success in challenging female stereotypes.

"I don't consider myself a role model for others, largely because I want others, themselves, to create their own creative boxes and listen to their inner voice," she says.

"They should shape themselves into a role model and be leaders rather than followers."

Topics: lifestyle-and-leisure, travel-and-tourism, community-and-society, women, pakistan

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