KARACHI: It was only a few years ago that Najam-un-Nisa, a Lyari teenager, was rountinely harassed by the children of her neighbourhood during her morning bicycle rides.

“They used to throw pebbles at us. They would kick our cycles and literally knock us down. They would then laugh in our faces,” the 18-year-old told Aaj Digital as she got ready to get back on the seat for a race.

She was preparing for a 3 kilometre race held to mark the International Day of the Girl.

It was organised by the Lyari Girls Café, the same group that prompted Nisa to return to cycling in earnest in 2018. The vocational centre was envisioned as a safe space for the women and girls of the area to engage and plan collective activities.

One of those activities were rides on rented bicycles. Most people in the predominantly low-income neighbourhood barely make enough to sustain themselves. For most residents, a bicycle for recreation or even exercise is a luxury.

Nisa says that she has always enjoyed cycling, and the Lyari Girls Café provided the ideal opportunity. But even then she needed her mother’s support - who pedalled the proverbial extra mile for her daughter.

“My mother enrolled my sister and me for cycling classes,” she said. The two sisters would go on Sunday morning rides to the colonial-era Custom House a few kilometres away.

Event that led to gossip. “People would say why are two girls going out of the house so early in the morning.”

Some of the girls from the area found a novel solution to deal with such cat-callers and naysayers. “A couple of them would dress like boys and cycle on the streets.”

She said she could have done the same but decided against it. “I didn’t want to hide my identity as a girl. I want to cycle as a girl.”

Her dedication to the activity and her identity resulted in a paradigm shift in her thinking. She says she now see the taunts as compliments.

“I think the negative comments are a good thing, because people only want to push you down when you’re ahead of them, when you’re more successful. The taunts fuel my confidence.”

Pedalling the extra mile

Habiba Bibi, Nisa’s mother, was quick to understand the uphill struggle facing her two daughters. She found a novel solution: enrolling in the cycling class herself.

“Many girls in the area wanted to cycle but their families were hesitant to allow them to do so,” she said.

“Watching me support my daughters and cycle at this age (40) made them realize there was nothing wrong with what we do and now they happily send their girls to cycle.”

Habiba is now one of instructors at the Lyari cafe, having helped hundreds get behind the wheel.

“In our area, girls are discouraged to leave the house. It’s a big deal if a girl finishes school. For girls to cycle is considered a taboo here,” she said.

“I didn’t want to limit my girls,” she says while urging other parents to encourage their daughters to participate in sports and learn things for their own safety.

“I encouraged my daughters to play. They are footballers and cyclists and the young one is also a boxer. I’m very proud of my girls.”

Her effort has paid off handsomely, with her youngest Shams-un-Nisa winning this year’s cycle race.

For Nisa, a lot has changed since the days when pebbles and stones were hurled at her.

“Now, you see little girls cycling on the streets,” she says while crediting the Lyari Girls Cafe for the change. “When we first started, only 15-20 girls would attend the cycling sessions. But now we see up to 50 girls every Sunday.”

Nisa hopes that she will one day be able to cycle to her medical college located around 10 kilometres away.

While that day is still far, Nisa is confident that it will happen sooner than expected.

“You just have to change your thinking. Things will happen automatically.”