Freedom Ride

I never imagined of luxuries such as a car as a teenager. I wished instead that I was a boy so my parents would let me drive a scooter and I could explore the city at will. But it just wasn’t done - not by the good daughters of the middle class. Now, nearly 20 years later, you still don’t see very many Indian women on two-wheelers in New Delhi. Thanks to the economic boom they’re in cars. But in small towns such as Varanasi I saw dozens, zipping along as heedless as any male driver.

Of course there is a backlash. A Hindu woman eloped with a Muslim man from a small town in the heartland to Mumbai where the courts intervened to make sure they wouldn‘t be arrested. There were lamentations and recriminations in her community. We’re giving the girls too much liberties, they said, and issued new guidelines: curfews, no more cell phones, and no more scooters you can ride to freedom…