HBC celebrates ‘Women on Wheels’

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Bicycling Club (HBC) organised its signature cycle ride Women on Wheels (WoW), an event exclusively for the women on Saturday at the National Academy of Construction (NAC) Campus at Cyberabad.

Chief guest Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of IT and Industries, Telangana, flagged off the ride. D V Manohar, Chairman, Hyderabad Bicycling Club; Prof Venkata Ramana, Vice Chairman, Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE); several women stalwarts were the esteemed guests of honour on the occasion. Over 600 women from all walks of life participated in the colourful event. The youngest rider was a 4-year-old girl Adyaand oldest lady cyclist was 55-years-old.

Speaking on the occasion, Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of IT and Industries said that he was happy that HBC had taken initiative to organise WoW. In rural areas empowerment of girls begins with the bicycles they get, after which the whole world opens up to them, they gain self-confidence. There is no single day for women, every day is women’s day, he added.

Prof Venkata Ramana said, cycling is an avenue through which a young girl becomes self-reliant, it is the first step in her blossoming into an epitome of confidence and provides her an opportunity to know and learn to succeed in the world. Often the students especially the girls in the Universities, walk the distances between departments, hostel, library etc. in the sprawling campuses.

Instead the universities should develop cycling tracks and HBC should open bike stations for students to commute, that helps them to save on time and concentrate on
their studies.