finally today. Time to meet Nour B, who calls herself the Nomani Hijabi Rider. The girl from Chennai who is now settled in Bengaluru, along with a few other women wearing a hijab and riding bikes in India is breaking stereotypes across the country. After her travels across India, Nour is now preparing for a biking expedition all the way to Mecca. She's just recovering from an accident, and a bike is recovering as well, joining us this evening. Noor Nour, Thanks so much for taking time out to speak to us before we get into what you want to do and what you're going to do next. Let's talk a bit about how you got here. How did you get into biking? How did your family react? Just take us through your journey. Please. Unmute. No, you're on mute. You need to unmute yourself. Yes. So, uh, a slam LA. And when I come to everyone, uh, I just, uh Maybe biking is very new to me. I would say like, it's been two years. I got into this biking field. Uh, everybody loves this biking. Right? So I come from a place like I I'm from so, uh, we always like be a pi rider, but right from school and colleges. I'm so fascinated with the bike biking thing and I was just randomly getting bike from random people. 34 times and fourth time, I thought, like, Why don't I get a own bike and let me go on the road? And fourth time is when I got a bike from Bangalore in and I just got into the road on the itself, I was able to cover with my confidence and boldness. I was able to cover 4. 50 kilometre. I started from Iran and then I passed in, which is which comes to 4. 50 kilometre. And then I got a confident that I can go on road. So then I started exploding. Seven months. I was on road. Yeah, OK, What? How did your family react when you started off? OK, I'm very sure, like it wasn't easy for my family to accept. But then I had to stop and tell. When I reached Mumbai, I had to tell them that I'm going on a long expedition and then they started crying. But now I have to say, my family, my, my and my brother Basha and my sister Marriam. They all are like supporting me for the next expedition, which I'm planning in. Sh no. We've had the hijab controversy here in Bengaluru and Karnataka. What's the message that you take across when you bike? I mean, this is not just about biking, you know, when you wear the hijab and you go biking. What's the message that you're sending across? What's the stereotype that you want to break? OK, so I want to share this here. Maybe I'll use this platform. So when this hijab controversy was happening, like I was riding in different parts of India, I just got a call from my parents saying that a big controversy a controversial thing is happening in in some place of India. So please be very, very careful. So to my surprise, your own belief. I, uh, people in, um you know, Gurudwara and also Temple Hindu Temple and also Ashram. They welcomed me, uh, respective of what I was wearing. So when they saw me wearing hijab, they welcomed me, and they gave me stay, and they made me so comfortable, and I didn't face any issue on road. Uh, you know, with what I was wearing, people respected me for what I was. Yeah, fascinating that you say this, but what's the stereotype that you'd like to break as a girl from palaver in Chennai, wearing the hijab and driving across the board as a message to women across the board, whether it is Muslim or Hindu or Sikh or Christian, what is the message that you're sending across and what's the stereotype that you'd like to break? OK, so I'm from a small place, like I don't not sure if many people know, But, uh uh, the stereotype which I want to bring it like, is, uh if you have some dream or if you have. If you're passionate about something, no matter what you wear and what you do like stick to it and, uh, whole world, whole world. I mean, universe will support you no matter what, and also just respect and be kind to all. And that's what I wanted to say. Nothing more than that. Oh, interesting. And now you are all set now to bike all the way to Mecca. That's your dream. You may be biking through Pakistan as well in this Afghanistan and Pakistan as you head to Mecca. What? What? What? Is there something that worries you, or is there a message that you're going to take across the world? Uh, sorry. I just lost you in between. Can you please repeat it? Vera, you are planning to go to Mecca next on your bike. That's your dream right now which you will possibly be biking if you manage to do that through Pakistan and Afghanistan and you know the other Middle Eastern countries. What is your What's the message that you will be carrying from India across the world? OK, so I want to just say here that I'll be covering. Inshallah, I'll be covering 10 countries. Uh, I'll be starting with, uh I will be starting from Chennai with Tamil registration bike where I want to take it to all the countries. Uh, if you have some dream, please chase and do not compromise on your dream. And also, wherever you go, uh, respect and be kind to everyone. So that's something I wanted to say. Yeah, and no matter what you wear or what you do, uh, just respect and be good to everyone. Yeah. Are you a bit nervous about a long trip to Mecca? Not at all. I'm so excited. I'm just waiting for the right. I mean, I'm waiting for the time to start my biking. Yeah, I'm sure your energy will take you all the distance that you need to do. Thank you so much. No. All the best for your biking expeditions and have a safe journey all across the board. Thank you so much for joining us here on NDT.
