All for a fair finish

She’s on the fast track and has the drive to win. David Devadas on the 15-year-old Alisha Abdullah who aims to be one of the fastest racers in the world.

Alisha Abdullah: Raring to go

Who would choose "liveforspeed" as their email ID? Well, a teenager might. One would not expect that teenager to have been at the start of the teens when that ID was chosen, though. Nor would one expect that teenager to be in Chennai, once considered the home of staid conservatism. And one would certainly not expect that teenager to be a girl.

Believe it or not, Alisha Abdullah is just such a girl. Now 15, she lives for racing and she would probably rather die than be deprived of the sport altogether. "It was like do or die," she says about her passion for winning a race. Alisha does not know whether she will have the money or sponsors to become one of the fastest racers in the world, but this is what she dreams about.

Without her helmet and jumpsuit, Alisha’s round face, large eyes and wavy curls make for a rather pretty picture, but if one asks her about her plans for marriage and children, she says: "I don’t care about all those things."

Clearly, the stereotyped image of a young woman’s future was very difficult to shrug off just a couple of decades ago but not so any more. Alisha is one of those young Indians of the 21st century who hails from a middle-class family but dreams of getting ahead of "the guys" in whatever makes her heart throb, even if that happens to be one of the areas that most people presume is a "guy thing."

As her father observes proudly, she never races with girls and keeps her eye on the fastest male on the track as she whizzes and swerves to get ahead.

Her father has reason to be proud of her, for Alisha drew inspiration from him. He has been racing motor cycles since he was 18, which is almost a quarter-century now, but he was amazed when Alisha swerved right into his motorbike, forcing him to turn evasively as she raced ahead. That was five years ago, when Alisha was just ten. Her father had not expected such zeal when he had asked her indulgently if she wanted to try out a bike.

Since than there has been no looking back for Alisha. She has competed in auto-cross races, go-karting and even formula races. Just last year, she won a race. That was a real feather in her cap, for it was around the time she wrote Class X exams and emerged with 75 per cent.

Perhaps the most refreshing fact about Alisha’s passion is that she has not let it take over her life to the exclusion of all else. Her father says that although she would like nothing better than to make a career of racing, she is planning to get an MBA degree so that she could go into management if necessary.

Alisha doesn’t practice incessantly, like some who are determined to make it to the top. In fact, she just goes down to the track to practise for a few hours for two or three days before a race.

Go-karting, however, has had to take a back seat for her recently, for the only go-karting race that still takes place is too expensive – at Rs 40,000 to 50,000 – for her family to afford. "Without a sponsor," says her father, "you cannot do anything." He should know. He has been sponsored, with a full-time salary, first by TVS and now by Yamaha.

For a young girl like Alisha, parental support is far more crucial than sponsorship and that she has had in abundance. Of course, it is not surprising that her father should support a passion that parallels his own but his wife too is always there to root for her daughter. Alisha still cannot forget how tightly her mother hugged her when she won a race.

"A lot depends on the parents," says Alisha’s father. He at least knows that, if the rider has sufficient control, this sport is less dangerous than riding a motor cycle on public roads.

Parental support is indeed essential to the next generation of Indian women, who are taking their destinies into their hands and flying with their dreams. Such support may still be relatively rare but the example that girls like Alisha provide will surely encourage more young parents to open their minds to their daughters’ dreams.

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