| ashu |
Posted
on 09-Jul-03 05:24 AM
What follows is an old article.
This may be of some interest to some of you, especially to those of you who are from Chitawan.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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NEPAL-WOMEN: Gender Equality on Wheels
By Ashutosh Tiwari
CHITWAN, Nepal, Jul 13, 1997 (IPS) - This sub-tropical valley in the foothills of the Himalaya is known the world over for its famous tiger reserve. Now another rare sighting greets visitors to the region 200 km southwest of Kathmandu - women on bicycles.
Even compared to its South Asian neighbours, the status of women in Nepal's conservative society has always been one of the lowest. Little girls help their mothers with all household chores, including nurturing younger siblings, and when they get married many young women become virtual slaves in the household of their in-laws.
Only one in every seven Nepali woman is literate.
All this is changing, and nowhere faster than in Chitwan, where the most visible sign of the greater mobility and freedom of women is the sight of them pedalling away -- young and old, student, farmer and entrepreneur and women from all castes and socio- economic classes.
''If a woman does not know how to ride a bicycle, she has a hard time getting married around here,'' says Narayani Upadhyay of Chitwan's agriculture college at Rampur. ''Husband and wife go to work on bicycles, they even get married on bicycles.''
In a recent issue of the Kathmandu-based 'Face to Face' magazine, sociologists pointed out that there are many factors.
Chitwan used to be covered in dense malarial jungle till 20 years ago. But a government programme to spray DDT and clear forests, brought settlers down from the Himalayan villages of central Nepal. Most of the valley's present one million people are migrants.
Unlike most other parts of hilly Nepal, Chitwan's flat alluvial plains makes it ideal bicycling terrain. In addition, the isolated farming communities and towns are not served by adequate public transport. For many Chitwan women, riding a bicycle became necessary -- there was no other alternative.
''We settled here 25 years ago from the mountains,'' recalls Sabitri Kandel, a dairy farmer and political activist in Chitwan. ''The roads are flat and smooth and the bazar was far away. There was no other option but to learn to ride a bike.''
Besides, she adds, if women like her couldn't take their milk and vegetables to market by early morning they would be poor and dependent on their husbands' salaries. Kandel later taught other dairy women how to ride bicycles.
''Once they got over their initial hesitation, the habit caught on and continues to this day. Cycling makes our livelihood possible,'' she adds as she secures her empty milk containers on either side of the bicycle's handlebars for the ride home.
Another dairy farmer, Maiti Lama says as children she and her friends used to laugh at women riding bicycles. ''But I learned how to ride, and today I take my bike everywhere: to the mill, to transport flour sacks, and to visit friends.''
Most Chitwan women prefer the Chinese made ''gents'' bicycles, with a rod between the seat and handle-bar, because it is sturdier than the female bikes and can be used to carry firewood and fodder.
College student Sumina Shrestha says she likes the independence that the bicycle give her. ''This way me and my friends don't have to ask anyone for a ride.'' Elsewhere in Nepal men tease girls who ride bicycles, but it has become such a common sight in Chitwan that it does not even raise eye brows anymore. It is in the crowded, hot public buses that women sometimes get harassed.
Shrestha says besides giving them mobility and independence, bicycling is also healthy. Some students bicycle one hour each way to college and back.
The long distances of Chitwan can be a problem, though. The outlying villages near the Royal Chitwan National Park are sometimes up to 20 km from the townships of Bharatpur and Rampur.
''One thing I hate about cycling when there is a flat tire or when the bicycle needs repairs,'' says S9ijana Aryal of Narayanghat. ''Dealing with the men at the repair shop can be a hassle. But most women now keep air pumps at home.''
Even in Chitwan, the men are not ready to accept women as equals. Cultural biases against women are ingrained in society all over South Asia, and women are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Within the family, a wife has to give more attention to her husband and in-laws, and only then to her children. (END/IPS/at/an/97)
[From In Motion, featured on the OneWorld News Service 14 July 1997]
http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/jul/womenbikes.html
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