Ahitha, a software engineer by profession, is one of the few female motorcycle stunt riders in Kerala.As a teenager, the greatest dream of Ahitha, a native of Thrissur, was to ride the Bajaj CT 100 motorbike that her father owned. However, her first bike-ride didn’t go as smooth as she expected. But the fierce girl in Ahitha was not ready to give up, and finally mustered courage to tell her father that she wanted to learn how to ride a bike. Meanwhile for Devassikutty, an official at CMFRI in Kochi, his daughter’s demand didn’t seem strange at all. He did teach her to ride a bike, and Ahitha was indeed a fast learner. Years passed by and now Ahitha, a software engineer by profession, is one of the few female motorcycle stunt riders in Kerala.
The starting point
It was as a plus-two student at Model Technical School in Kochi, Ahitha came to know about the thrilling bike stunts from some of her friends. When she expressed her wish to turn to stunt riding, her father said in a very reasonable tone, “You complete your studies now. When you land a good job, you can buy the bike you want and do stunts.”
Ahitha didn’t dismiss her father’s advice. After completing her B Tech degree, Ahitha secured a job at Infosys in Mysore in 2015. She gave her first salary to her father and asked him to purchase a good bike for her. Devasikutty looked around Thrissur for a good bike and finally zeroed in on a second hand Pulsar 180 for Rs 30,000. When Ahitha, who came home for the Onam vacation, told that she would return to Mysore on the newly bought bike, her mother Anis was not very impressed.
Ahitha performing a stuntAs usual Devassikutty came for Ahitha’s rescue, and he rode behind his daughter from Mala to Nilambur. From Nilambur, Ahitha continued her journey to Mysore while Devassikutty caught a bus back home. She rode for around 320 kilometers that day. That was her first long-distance bike ride and it was just a beginning.
Stunt-ready!
A few of her male friends from college were also her colleagues at Infosys. It was with them she began her training in stunt riding in the small roads near Infosys. But she obviously needed to train under a proper stunt trainer. Finally Ahitha found the LSI (Legendary Stunt Inc) group from Facebook. It was the LSI who instructed Ahitha to meet Shatab, a professional stunt rider. Shatab showed her a stunt called the ‘stoppie’. After failing and falling off her bike for more than 10 attempts, Ahitha finally succeeded. On every weekend from then, Ahitha trained hard under Shatab.
Setbacks on the way
Accidents too had become a part of Ahitha’a life as she began to train as a professional stunt rider. Once, a tooth knocked loose when she fell off the bike. An attempt to learn ‘wheelie’ ended in a surgery on her leg. A nasty fall while trying to perfect ‘Christ’ made Ahitha stay away from bike riding for months. She had to quit her job, when doctors advised her to stay on bed for two months after she suffered a ligament injury. It was a time when Ahitha went through severe mental stress as she was not even able to climb a few steps. Doctors bluntly told her that she wouldn’t be able to ride bike any more. But Ahitha did not give up hope. In 2017 October, Ahitha had gone to watch the stunt show by Shatab in Mysore. But it was Ahitha’s extraordinary performance on a bike which took the audience there by surprise. When asked how she manages to achieve all this, the stunt rider replies with a smile, “The determination to achieve my aims. That’s all.” Ahitha and her gang had recently performed at the Vidya College in Thrissur.
Daddy’s girl
Once when Ahitha called up her father to tell how a tooth was damaged when she fell, Devassikutty simply told, “Just press it with some salt and cloves. Everything will be fine.” It is her parents Devassikutty and Anis who support Ahitha in achieving her dreams. She says, “I am able to come back strong after an injury just because I have their wholehearted support. Even though they are greatly hurt by my pain, they wouldn’t show it in front of me.” Ahitha is a professional stunt rider and continues her software job. She also pursues her M Tech degree.
Ahitha’s extraordinary performance on a bike took the audience there by surprise. Ahita’s tips for bike-stunt enthusiasts
• Have great passion and courage.
• Anticipate accidents and make no compromise on the quality of safety gears.
• Health matters a lot, so workout regularly.
• Over confidence may not do any good.
• Patiently learn the stunts from a professional trainer.
• Patience is the greatest quality of a good rider.
• Training should not be on public roads.
Tips for women who like to hit the road on bikes
• Don’t ask for routes at deserted places.
• If you have to ask the route, then just ask the route to the nearest place.
• Don’t give others the impression that you are on a solo long trip.
• Use good quality jacket and helmet.
• Do not over speed.
• Vehicles with gear are easy to control.
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