The idea of empowering giving them ‘mobility’ came from Sheela Rani Chunkath, the District Collector of Pudukkottai in 1991. She included ‘mobility’ as a part of the literacy drive so as to facilitate female literacy activists to reach rural in the interior. Once the literacy activists learned cycling, they taught the neo-literates cycling. Once the neo-literates learned cycling, every other woman in the district volunteered to learn cycling. Later, the Arivoli activists organized a ‘Cycling Training Camp’ and created Master trainers’ who in turn conducted several cycling training camps. This way, in a short ** of time, over 100,000 rural in Pudukkottai district learned cycling. The author opines that ‘cycling’ gave these freedom, mobility and independence.
Consequently, these ** stopped depending on the menfolk to transport their agricultural produce to bus stops. They themselves carried the product and sold them in the neighbouring villages and this way covered a larger area. Secondly, they also took care of the young ones at home and completed household chores in time as a result of the proper utilization of time. They could also fetch water from far places and cart provisions on their bicycle. Thus, ‘cycling’ empowered rural in many ways. Furthermore, the ability to carry on all the duties and responsibilities on their own gave the a sense of achievement and self-respect. Thus, the author who witnessed this silent revolution concludes that the humble vehicle the bicycle has become a metaphor for freedom, in Pudukkottai.
