Bani Yadav—India's fastest woman rally driver on the trials of being a woman racer in India

More often than not, after marriage, women either give up their dreams and passion or are forced to do so for various reasons. It is even more the case when she becomes a mother. Bani Yadav is one of the few women who have set out to prove that wrong and give other women hope that breaking barriers is not as tough if you have the right kind of companion.

Bani, a 45-year-old mother of two, is the fastest woman rally driver in India and the only woman in India to win all the major rallies that took place in the country. And what's more, she has been a professional racer for just four years. Talking about how she got started, she told The Times of India,

"I married my childhood friend. Ours was a love marriage, and one where the families disowned us. We were financially insecure back then, so the focus was always on the next paycheck, raising the kids, the jobs. There was no time for racing. It was only after the kids had grown up and we were both financially secure that my husband pushed me to start racing, and at his insistence, I did."

Despite starting late, it wasn't difficult for Bani even in her initial days as she believes that racing is in her blood. The credit for cultivating her interest in racing goes to her father.

When she wanted to become a racer, however, he objected to it, though not for the usual reasons. It was because, back then, there was no proper infrastructure for racing in India. Many years later, even today, there are a lot of issues that particularly women racers face, one of the main reasons why there are very few women racers in India. According to The Hindustan Times, she said,

 “I haven’t got any recognition as yet. It’s not a sport that is seen every day, but it’s much more dangerous than most of the other sports. How are we not recognising the women here? We are going all out with Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao for women’s empowerment. I want the Haryana government to look at motor sports also"

Bani further added,

"We require more facilities for rallyists because there is no place where you can go and practise. We are looking for some infrastructure within Gurgaon and NCR. We lack infrastructure which is the primary reason why so few people are taking up the sport. Would the Haryana government support us?".

Even though there are hurdles in her path, in 2015, Bani became the first Indian woman to win the Asia Cup. While talking about stigma attached with women taking part in races, she says that with changing times, men in India are ready to 'let' women take part in these races. But not as equals—women can take part as long as they do not compete with men and try to beat them. However, none of that can stop this woman from racing ahead.

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