Veenu Paliwal sacrificed a lot to keep her passion alive

Jaipur: One of India's foremost women bikers, Veenu Paliwal, 44, died after her Harley Davidson motorcycle skidded into a culvert at a sharp turn in Vidisha district in Madhya Pradesh late on Monday evening. She is survived by her two children.
Well-known as HOG (Harley Owners Group) Rani, Paliwal was on a motorcycle trip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari with a companion, Dipesh Tanwar.The two were on their way to Vidisha near Bhopal after refuelling in Sagar when the accident occurred.
Paliwal, who lived in Jaipur, was making a documentary , 'Ye Hai India', on her cross-country journey, which ended horribly at an accident prone spot. One person was killed and 40 injured when a bus had overturned at the same place on February 7. A police officer admitted, "There should be marking at the turn. We've recorded four or five accidents at the spot."
"When the going gets tough...the tough gets going." This was the last message on the Facebook wall of city-based famed woman biker Veenu Paliwal who died when her Harley Davidson skidded off a road in Madhya Pradesh on Monday .
In fact, this was not just a message, but her life's motto her friends, fans and family members in the city said after they heard the news of her shocking demise. They are yet to come to terms with the fact that the "Lady of the Harley" died on her favourite bike that she loved more than anything else in the world followed by her love for her two teenaged children.
A panel of four doctors which conducted an autopsy said she died due to a "blunt abdominal trauma rupturing liver", after her friend Tanwar had alleged that wrong injection at a government facility caused her death. "The impact ruptured her liver -though her only visible injuries were a bruise and a scratch. She died of internal bleeding," said Dr B L Arya, chief medical and health officer, Vidisha.
"What kind of a woman would take the risk of going on a national tour on a bike ­ from Kashmir to Kanyakumari at an age of 44. She was fearless, outgoing and a very charming lady ," said Preet Singh, a friend. Paliwal was popularly known in the bylanes of the city as `HOG Rani' because of the her bike's make.
Paliwal, who had completed 16 days of her national tour on the bike before the tragic mishap took her life, had sacrificed a lot to keep her passion alive. Her friends told TOI that her relationship with her husband turned sour because the latter was opposed to her passion. The marriage eventually ended up with the couple getting divorced nearly a year ago.

Paliwal, one of the leading woman bikers, inherited the passion from her father.Soon after she crossed the minimum age for a license, she started chasing around her friends for lessons on how to ride a bike. By the time she turned 20, she graduated to a 500CC Royal Enfield and when a friend gave her an opportunity to ride his Harley Davidson, she immediately knew the future course of her life . "I was born to ride," she told in an interview earlier this year. She was named "Lady of the Harley", 2016.
Paliwal who ran a restaurant by the name of Chah Bar in C-Scheme had a no-nonsense attitude about her passion. Her friends remember that she would get offended when someone asked questions like "How can you ride at a speed of 180 kmph despite being a woman?" She believed anything that a man can do, a woman can also. It was due to this confidence in her that she was able to startle "narrow minded people".
"She would ride in full gear and when she removed her helmet, people would look at her with shock. And, she used to enjoy these looks at lot," said Anurag, another friend.
Paliwal had begun her national tour nearly 17 days ago and was making a documentary “Ye Hai India“ to showcase the beauty of Indian landscape. Her body will be brought to the city on Wednesday .
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