Bathukamma on wheels

Bathukamma, the nine-day floral festival of Telangana, has gotten an uber cool makeover this year. It’s no longer restricted to just courtyards of homes and compounds of apartment complexes. Instead, it has spilled over onto the highways of Telangana, literally, thanks to nine female bikers, who will be travelling across nine districts on a nine-day road trip to celebrate Bathukamma.“This is the only festival which is celebrated solely by women and it continues for nine days. Since we had nine days in hand, we thought we will cover nine districts in the state with nine women — nine being the common thread. Plus, it has a nice ring to it,” shares Jai Bharathi, who’s leading the team of bikers, which includes Surekha, Susan Shanti, Satyaveni, Katyayini, Sushma, Hamsa, Kavitha and Poornima.
Wearing traditional handloom weaves of the state, the bikernis set off from Hyderabad on Tuesday morning. From spreading awareness on the handlooms of the state to promoting Telangana tourism as well as creating awareness about the SHE Teams, there are multiple things on their agenda, they tell us. Incidentally, ASD Shanti, one of the bikernis who has embarked on this journey, also happens to be a constable with SHE Teams. “I’ve been a member of this team for over three years and I feel this is the most significant trip that we are making. SHE Teams have been set up in the districts just a few months ago and I feel this is the right time to reach out to women and help them overcome the taboo of sharing issues with the police. unlike in the city, where social media is prominent, women in rural areas are still reluctant to approach the police. On this biking expedition, SHE Teams will help us interact with women in every region and we will then celebrate Bathukamma together,” says Shanti, who adds that they are expecting around 400 women to join them for these meets at every district.
There’s going to be an extra emphasis on social media for this ride, as the bikernis aim to take people on the journey along with them, in an attempt to promote tourism as well. “We want people to travel with us, vicariously on social media, as we explore the wonders of Telangana. For this, we have put a team in place to ensure that updates from our journey reach our followers. We want show people that the state has so much more to offer than just Charminar,” Jai Bharathi explains.
Agreeing, 23-year-old Satyaveni, says, “It’s a great opportunity for us to know more about our state, especially its culture and food. And, thanks to live updates, we are able to share our experiences almost realtime.”
The bikernis will also be visiting handloom clusters along the way during their nine-day journey. On the very first day of the expedition, they made a pitstop at Pochampally and got a first-hand experience of the making of Ikat. Surekha, 36, shares, “We went to the Handloom Park and experienced the making of Ikat — right from the first step to the last. Later, we drove to Zilla Parishad school, where over 300 girls joined us for a meeting on SHE Teams.”
As the ladies zip through dusty village roads in their colourful garb, they turn many heads, especially that of women, for whom this is an unusual sight. “So many girls came up to ask questions about how we ride bikes. There is a wrong perception created that bikes are only meant for men; we are trying to show that women can also ride and enjoy the experience,” adds Hamsa Latha, 23, who’s among the youngest in the group.
The group of bikernis will next move towards Warangal, and go on to cover places like Laknavaram, Kaleshwaram, Jannaram, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Sircilla, Vemulawada, Siddipet and Bhongir, before returning to Hyderabad.