Wania Riaz's daily bicycle commute to university is inspiring other women to take up cycling, as a way to win independence in a heavily male-dominated area near Afghanistan.
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00:00In a dominant society, when I take out my cycle, I get a lot of excitement, but I also
00:20have to face challenges.
00:21As you can see, I am wearing an abaya, a hijab, so often going to the abaya, or if
00:26something goes wrong in the cycle, then it becomes challenging for me.
00:34Everyone does trailing, even females.
00:36When they see me like this, sometimes they give thumbs up, sometimes like this, like
00:40what is this?
00:41So I have to face such things.
00:43The rest of the boys, often when I ride my cycle, they turn the car this way so that
00:48they can distract me.
00:50And I also have to face fun and noise.
00:56I am very happy to see her, the way she goes to the department, the way she is empowered,
01:20the way she is independent.
01:22And we would like to see in the future, the way Vanya goes on her cycle, we would like
01:27to see the rest of the girls, so that they can also go.
01:30Often, sometimes we feel unsafe with rickshaw drivers or taxi drivers.
01:42I would appreciate that she comes on the cycle every day, so that her mental health, physical
01:46health will also be healthy.
01:48And instead of going for a taxi, going for a rickshaw, this is our conservative society,
01:54because of which they will also get compensated for their bad behavior.
02:04Cycle has a lot of impact on my life.
02:07I will describe it in two aspects.
02:09One is that it has a positive impact on my health, because going out in the morning,
02:13you know, one exercise is done, then going on leave.
02:16In the second aspect, I would say that I feel empowered and independent.
02:20The way other girls wait for transport in front of the hostel.