Who said racing bikes and chasing thrills is a boys thing? Alisha Abdullah, 24 is a racing driver from India. She is India’s first female national racing champion.
Alisha’s introduction to the world of racing began when she was still experiencing her first decade on this planet, via go-karting and her legendary racer father Mr R A Abdullah. By the time the Chennai-based kid was 11-year-old, Alisha was winning all kinds of go-kart races. And, at 13, she won the MRF National Go-karting Championship and the Best Novice Award in the National level Formula Car Racing in the open class.
By the time she was 15, Alisha had turned toward super bike racing. In 2004, placed herself in the top five of the JK Tyre National Racing Championship.
After a fairly horrific accident with a two-wheeler in 2010, Alisha moved back to four-wheeler’s. It was long speculated whether Alisha would return to two-wheeler racing after the crash.
Alisha was quoted by TOI saying: “In a completely male-dominated sport, I think I bruised quite a few men’s egos. They couldn’t stand a girl push past guys and many a time they deliberately hit my bike. Being a no-nonsense girl, I always fought back. But, the crash was the threshold. I didn’t want to race bikes any more, though I loved it.”
In fact, Alisha has also made a film appearance. Alisha guest appeared in the 2014 Tamil film Irumbu Kuthirai, and is working on another film set to release this year. It also, probably doesn’t come as a surprise that she’s commonly been mistaken for a beauty queen.
She was once quoted saying, “It’s all in your mind. Nothing is impossible! I got put down, mocked and what not but I believe that’s how you become stronger.”