“I don´t have to wait for hours for public vehicles these days. I can easily reach to my destinations on my scooter,” Chadani shared.[break]
Chadani is not the only woman who have benefited from this easy means of transportation. Scooters are gaining wide popularity among women and are equally liked by college-goers, officials, bankers or even housewives. To put it in other words, the two-wheeler is doing wonders for women.
Apart from relieving the women from the troublesome public transport, scooters have given women other kinds of freedom too. They no longer have to depend on others to be dropped to their destinations. In other words, the scooter revolution has made girls independent.
“Whenever I was late at parties, I had to ask help from my friends and parents. But I don´t have such worries now. I can easily commute on my personal vehicle,” said Neela Dongol, executive administrator at Solutions Consultant Pvt Ltd. Neela has been riding her Bajaj Wave for the last three years and has been experiencing drastic changes in her life. “Apart from just losing precious time waiting for public vehicles, I often used to miss assignments before I had my own vehicle,” she added.
Pranila Singh, administrative assistant at Western Union in Heritage Plaza, echoed Neela. “I can now complete my assignments faster than earlier. I am also punctual at my meetings and appointments,” she added.
Rajan Puri, manager at Syakar Company that sells Honda and Hero Honda scooters, said the popularity of scooters had gone beyond expectations. “Earlier, scooters were used only by professionals. But it is being used by college-goers and housewives too,” Puri added. Syakar Company sells four scooter models in Nepali market: Honda´s Dio, Aviator and Activa and Pleasure by Hero Honda. “We sold around 5,000 scooters last year. This year we aim to double our sales,” he said.
Scooters have really helped empower women in a male-dominated society like ours.
“Since scooters are easy to use and are equipped with features like under seat storage facility. Scooters are also gaining popularity among men,” said Suman Shrestha, marketing executive of Shrestha International Trading Concern. “Since public vehicles are really troublesome, women have been preferring scooters.”
Shrestha Intercontinental has been selling Mahindra Flyte and Kinetic Nova scooters. The firm sold 700 scooters in 2008 and is planning to introduce modified version of Kinetic Blaze shortly.
The changes that women and scooter have gone through in the last decade can be exemplified by Rita Thapa. She has been riding her scooter for a decade and feels smart and confident because of her two-wheeler. “Thanks to my scooter, I can handle multiple tasks with ease and I have ample time to handle my household chores,” she added.
Thapa has observed tremendous increment in the number of female riders over the last decade. “When I purchased by Kinetic scooter ten years ago, there used to be a few scooters in the street. Only some selective well-to-do ladies owned a bike. But now most of the girls have their own bike,” she added.
Scooters have not only emerged as a dominant form of transportation for women, it has also been contributing to empower women and helping strengthen their self-confidence. It has become a symbol of independent women.
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