One of India's best known female bikers, Veenu Paliwal, met a tragic death in a bike accident in Vidisha district, about 100 kilometres off Bhopal on Monday. Here's all you need to know about the Harley Davidson biker.
1) She had been inspired by her father: Paliwal had told Jaipur Women Blog last year that, "My father who is an avid bike rider laid the foundation of my passion. He used to take pride in taking my mom along for the rides". Her father was surprised when he noticed her passion for biking. She also said that her daughter is a biker as well but her son is not so interested.
2) She married a man who opposed her riding bikes: Paliwal was married to a man who refused to let her ride bikes. Though she had learnt biking with her friends in college, she could not follow her passion. Finally, she divorced him and the divorce came through last year. “My divorce came through and I settled back into my life. I wanted to do something for myself. So I bought a Harley and, with my children away at college, every weekend is now spent riding to Delhi or to places around Jaipur,” she said in an interview to Hindustan Times last year.
3) She was called H.O.G. Rani and won an award: Her friends began to call her H.O.G. Rani since she was the only female biker in Jaipur, that too one driving a Harley Davidson. She was also named the Lady of Harley.
4) She was fond of riding fast: Paliwal was known for being able to ride her bike at 180 kilometres per hour and was a common sight on the roads of Jaipur. Paliwal was on a nationwide tour with fellow biker, Deepesh Tanwar when the accident cut short her life.
5) She had fresh ambitions: Paliwal had clocked 17,000 kms since November 2015 and wanted to cross 50,000 kms in a year. She also wanted to make a documentary on biking. Paliwal wanted to join politics some day and show people that it is not the big bad world it is made out to be.
6) She was an entrepreneur: 44-year-old Paliwal owned a tea room lounge in Jaipur called Chah Bar.
RIP, Veenu.
