Exclusive: Dia Mirza on her experience of learning to ride a motorbike

I was super excited when I heard I had to ride a motorbike in Dhak Dhak It would mean that I could overcome a fear and also fulfill a lifelong dreamrdquo says Dia Mirza who at 41 learned how to ride a geared twowheeler for the road trip movieIn the film which released last week four women set out on a journey of selfdiscovery through the highest motorable pass in the world Khardung La in Ladakh The cast also includes Ratna Pathak Shah Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanjana Sanghi and has been produced by Tapasee PannuStriding the twowheeler revived memories of Mirzarsquos late father She was born in Hyderabad to a German father and a Bengali mother Frank Handrich passed away when she was just nine years old ldquoI remember sitting with dad on his bike holding himrdquo she says ldquoI was very young then and ever since he passed Irsquove wanted to ride But Irsquove never even triedhellip maybe I was scared So this was an opportunity I couldnrsquot miss It was also a powerful story about women searching for freedom so it all tied in well togetherrdquoIn his cult 1974 book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance author Robert M Pirsig writes ldquoThe real cycle yoursquore working on is a cycle called yourselfrdquo Mirza would concur ldquoWe learnt how to find our centre of gravity handle the weight the theory of brake and clutch how to shift the gearshellip but itrsquos been a lot about inner work toordquo The first day Mirza faced the machine a Royal Enfield 350 cc she was intimidated by its size Understandably It weighs about 180 kg ldquoAs a part of the scripthellip I play a mechanichellip I had to lift the bike to put it on the main stand Fatema had to do it to It took a lot of strength and I had aches and pains for a while I even strained my wrist I discovered muscles I never knew I hadrdquo she laughs Shersquos never been more grateful to her fitness regimen ldquoYoga and strength training are important if you want to even attempt thisrdquo she says ldquoFlexibility and strength Ratna has been doing yoga for years now so whenever she fell and she fell a lot she would spring back uprdquoSoon the entire cast got the hang of it ldquoOnce you are on the bike balance comes naturally We started riding in 48 hours but trained for a month and kept riding every chance we got We had to get used to the traffic bumpshellip Itrsquos all about building confidencerdquoProcess aside Mirza links taming the motorcycle to your state of mind ldquoThe first thing is to overcome anxietyrdquo she says ldquoBalance depends on your heartbeatmdashif its slower you balance better So one needs to just believerdquoAnd of course the whole cast always wore safety gearWe have to ask heremdashonce all is done and they are ridingmdashdoes it feel meditative ldquoYou said itrdquo she responds quickly ldquoIt was meditative We were in Ladakh surrounded by infiniteness feeling extremely finite Therersquos a sense of oneness with naturehellip I would think thatrsquos how you feel when you fly Itrsquos an open experiencehellip all the elements are accessible to you You feel the wind rain and terrainhellip itrsquos humblingrdquoMirza says the whole adventure of getting atop a bike is different for women ldquoItrsquos always been linked to masculine strength When we get on a motorbike I feel we are overcoming intergenerational inequality and fear Itrsquos just so liberating I think everyone who watches this movie should draw inspiration to overcome their fears and pursue their potential Anything is possible at any age at any stage Nothing empowers you more than yourselfrdquo