Pooja Rajput on why she wants women to take solo trips

Jane Austen once said, “None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives,” and this is something Lieutenant Commander Pooja Rajput—who took a 2,000-km ride through coastal India—seems to believe in.

Her mission was to find out if women can travel and still remain safe in India. According to Drive Spark, she said,

"When you are a woman riding on a 1,600 cc superbike, it attracts lots of attention and there are lots of curious people on the road who try to stop you, of whom you should be aware. They can create a situation like an accident. Being a naval officer, the training which you get for becoming one solves most of the issues on the road."

She wants women to travel without any preconceived notions as those assumptions could make you afraid and ruin the experience. Instead, she wants women to be properly equipped by learning self-defence techniques. Pooja herself carries a knife and pepper spray with her all the time. Talking to IANS, she said,

"Some people are very rowdy on the road. A woman on a bike sometimes attracts a lot of unwanted attention. On a smaller bike maybe people just pass by, but I get noticed more because of my superbike."

The ride she took included everything from beaches to hilly terrains which challenged her years of training, abilities, and her bike. But that did not stop her from riding ahead undeterred, and that is the message she has for the women who sit at home and wonder about things that could go wrong. She wants women to be their own masters and figure things out for themselves.

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