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| Zenith Irfan, the 20 year old Pakistani rode her bike solo across Kashmir (Image Source: Zenith Irfan via Daily Pakistan) |
A 20-year old girl, Zenith Irfan, rode her motorcycle across Pak-occupied Kashmir for six days all by herself, thereby becoming the first woman from Pakistan to do so.
Starting off from Lahore on June 14th, the remarkable youngster traveled hundreds of miles, weathered the elements as well as the rough terrain and by all accounts, came back richer in experience and spirit.
On returning, she chronicled her travels on her facebook page, 'Zenith Irfan: 1 Girl 2 wheels'.
Zenith Irfan's postings and photos paint the picture of a free-spirited and bold adventurer, city-bred and most probably used to good things in life, who nevertheless finds pleasure in simple things and relates to people that she comes across as a decent human being.
Her musing on how beautiful the real heaven must be while traveling through Kashmir, often called the 'Heaven on Earth,' and plans to also raise funds for mosques during her future travel, reveal the role that her faith, Islam, plays in her life.
Zenith's references to 'Azad Kashmir' and 'India-occupied Kashmir' while recounting her trip to Neelam valley shows her probable alignment with her country's Kashmir policy; but her enthusiastic acknowledgement of the tremendous amount of love she's received from India following the airing of a report of her travel on Asianet, reminds us of numerous stories of people of both countries relating to one another with affection, regardless of government policies.
Zenith Irfan's father, a Major in Pakistan Air Force, wanted to travel the world on a bike, but passed away without doing it when Zenith was only a toddler. Zenith, through her travel with her mother's active encouragement, is paying homage to him and is keeping his spirit alive.