Bruised, Limping, Unbowed: Sia Says She Will Be Back On The Bike Soon

"I will soon be back on the bike," declared Sia as she limped her way to join an NDTV special conversation with women bikers.

The freak accident where Sia was hit by a rowdy bunch in a car while riding in Gurugram has left the country outraged.

Sia is nursing an injured left leg, struggling to walk after the fall that she says shook her entire body - physically and mentally.

Yet, on an NDTV, Sia chose not to sit alone with the memory of what happened.

She joined a group of women bikers.

There was pain in her step, anger in her words, and something else - a quiet determination that the road would not be taken away from her.

"I don't know when I will be mentally prepared to ride again," Sia said.

But later, she was more certain. "I will soon be back on the bike."

The women around her understood what that meant.

Devi, who has been riding for 40 years, watched the video of the incident and had little doubt about what she saw.

"He purposely hit her and ran away. The videos show that he hit deliberately and ran away," she said.

For Pavitra, another biker, the fact that the driver fled spoke volumes. "He knew he did it on purpose. Otherwise, he would not have run away," she said.

'I Just Wanted To Get Away'

Sia remembers the moments before the crash with chilling clarity. There were four men in the car. "They were gesturing me to stop. I felt scared about their intention."

She accelerated, trying to create distance. She gestured for them to stay away, hoping they would understand that she was uncomfortable.

"I thought they would realise I am not comfortable and they will stop."

They didn't.

"I just wanted to exit that road. The car was continuously chasing me. I could see it in my rear-view mirror."

What happened next was something she had never imagined.

"Never expected that someone could do something like this. At worst, people pass some unruly comments and go away."

Then came the impact.

"He suddenly hit and I just didn't realise what had happened."

The road, for a moment, became a place of fear.

'You Can Never Be Sure Of Someone Else's Intention'

There was one thing Sia was willing to acknowledge - she was not wearing her riding jacket. "I agree not wearing proper gear was a mistake. I have a riding jacket, but due to the weather I decided not to wear the jacket. I decided I will ride slow. I agree I should have worn my jacket."

But the incident left her with another, far more unsettling realisation.

"No matter how much you drive safely and in your lane, you can never be sure of others' intention."

It is a fear her fellow women riders recognised.

Avid biker Jasvinder Kaur (JK) spoke of how women face unwanted attention on roads even when they are not riding powerful motorcycles.

"Forget big bikes, even a woman riding a scooty faces harassment and male attention on roads."

Zia, another biker added: "We see cases of women being harassed and touched on roads."

JK has lived through it herself. I have faced all this since childhood."

For these women, the issue was bigger than one road, one bike or one accident.

It was about what happens when a woman refuses to make herself smaller to accommodate the male ego.

'What If I Had Died?'

Sia was particularly angry at the delay in arrest and the public statements made by those accused in the case.

"They justified their act. How were they allowed this time to make media statements and took so long for arrest?"

Her answer was blunt.

"Because there is no immediate and strict action, there is no fear of law. Strict action will make people think twice."

What shocked her even more was the reaction of some people who appeared to support the accused.

"There is a need to change the mindset. There are people speaking in support of the accused. It's shocking."

And then came the question that she wanted everyone defending the accused to answer.

"What if I had died in that accident, what victim card could I have played? If it were someone from their family, would they still give the victim card argument?"

The Fight Begins At Home

The conversation eventually moved beyond the road - to homes, families and the way boys are raised.

JK called male ego root of the problem and said the battle against it has to begin at home.

"Very important how boys are being brought up in the family," Sia said.

She spoke about her own upbringing.

"I have always been brought up as an equal in my family. I was never made to feel that I am a girl."

That equality, she suggested, is something she carried onto the road.

Her father had worried when she bought her bike.

The machine weighs almost 200 kg.

"Dad said, how will you ride this on our roads?"

'We Are Not Going To Stop'

Sia's leg still hurts. Walking is still difficult. And she does not know when the fear will fully leave her.

But sitting among women who understood the pull of the road seemed to give her something back.

A sense of defiance.

"I will never ride again, but always with full gear, because you never predict others' intentions," she said.

But she refuses to let one frightening encounter define what comes next.

Her message to other women bikers was simple: "No need to be afraid. I will soon be back on the bike."

And then, perhaps the most powerful line of the conversation:

"No need to give up our passion due to some lumpens on the road. It's for the system to deal with the lumpens. We are not going to stop."