First time Republic Day parade welcomes Women Bikers’ contingent
Do not miss this Republic Day Parade, as you will witness for the first time women bikers’ contingent which will be a part of the grand national parade marching down Rajpath, India’s ceremonial boulevard. These bikers are gearing up to stun the country with their breathtaking stunts and acrobatics.
Usually, a troupe of biking daredevils end the parade every year with an impressive display of stunts, but this year, an all-women biker contingent from the Border Security Force will do the honors.
Indian has been taking steps to crush gender barriers in its armed forces by enabling women to serve on-board submarines, in ground combat positions and tank units. In February 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee announced that women will finally be allowed to take up combat roles in all sections of the Indian armed forces, signaling a radical move towards gender parity in one of the world’s most male-dominated professions.
Christened ‘Seema Bhavani’ or Border Brave hearts, the 113-member squad includes women aged between 25-30 years, who have been carefully chosen from different combat ranks of the force for the squad.
Led by Sub-Inspector Stanzin Noryang, a 28-year-old from Ladakh, the team comprises a diverse mix of bold and daring women from almost all the states in the country. While Punjab leads with 20 participants, the states of West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh closely follow with 15, 10, 9, and 8 members, respectively.
There are 2 participants each from Kerala, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Delhi, and lastly 1 member from Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh each. As many as 15 of these members are married, while some are even mothers.
Trained under the guidance of ‘special’ BSF instructors, these women were part of a rigorous training regime that would begin at 8:00 am in the morning and last till 1:00 pm every day. This would then be followed by a post-noon session that would start at 3:30 pm and go on until 5:30 pm. They also followed a strict fitness and regulated diet regime which helped them progress. During the training period, some of them even injured themselves, but that didn’t break their resilience or spirit.
The whole idea of bringing women into the scene can be attributed to BSF Director General KK Sharma, who wanted to replace the men daredevils, with women bikers. The team will be performing different types of stunts, which will include some classic formations like ‘Pyramid,’ ‘Fish Riding’, ‘Shaktiman,’ ‘Bull Fighting,’ and ‘Seema Prahari.’
