Women in all parts of world face challenges every day that hinder the achievement of their goals. They have to put up a fight most of the time to pursue what they love, what they’re passionate for. Specially in a country like Pakistan, we have stereotyped how women should act in public, how they should dress and how they should talk. It’s a man’s world here but yet many formidable women manage to stand out.
Such is the example of Guliafshan Tariq. Tariq is a traveler who aims to leave her bike’s tyre marks all around the world beginning from Pakistan. Talking to Orange Ink, Guliafshan introduced herself to be a passionate traveler and took us to the start of her journey.
“I am a computer engineer from NUST by profession and a traveler by passion. I began travelling in 2015.” She said. “Initially I started off with rock and wall climbing. Then I visited Army School of Physical Training in Kakul to do a beginner’s course of paragliding.” She continued.
Credits: www.twitter.com/guliafshantariq
Tariq talked about her budding interest in the sport of cycling and how she accomplished the task of setting a national record in cycling in year 2015.
She said: “On return from Kakul, I joined Islamabad team in cycling and took part in the national cycling championship in 2016. Before that I had attempted my first national record of cycling from Islamabad to Khunjerab pass in 2015.”
Guliafshan is also a motivational speaker. She has been portraying herself as a strong woman who is ready to take on any kind of challenges thrown at her by life. She said that she inherited her passion and her fighting spirit from her father.
“I have been a motivational speaker in several universities and colleges. I was also invited to speak at TEDx Islamabad.” She continued: “My father was a traveler and Major in army. Even though he was amputated in the 1971 war, he took his mother to perform hajj and travelled to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan on road. He left us in 2011 but then I decided to pursue his dream to travel around by choosing cycling, paragliding and now eventually motorcycling. My intention is to drive motorbike around in Pakistan firstly, and then internationally.”
Credits: www.shanglavalley.com
The zealous traveler told us about how the interest of taking on adventurous sports inculcated in her. “I have been involved in sports since childhood. During my years at NUST, I took up rock climbing, wall climbing and archery as a hobby. It’s been more than 7 years that I have been religiously devoted to these adventurous sports.” She said.
Talking to us about her future endeavor, the motorcyclist listed all her goals that she wanted to achieve in the coming years. She said: “In future, I am going to ride through Punjab then Balochistan, Sindh and the rest of Pakistan. Then eventually I’ll leave for the world tour, that is my aim right now.
She continued to say: “I love to explore and study about different cultures and traditions and hope that I can continue with my father’s dream. As my partner in this journey, I have Haider Aleez, who is Pakistan’s youngest film maker and travels with me to make videos and documentaries.”
We ended our conversation on that note and were left being nothing but inspired by her attainment in the world of travelling. She is a role model for many women who want to follow their dreams but always need a little push to do that so.
Credits: www.dawn.com
Source Cover Image: www.twitter.com/guliafshantariq
