Mysuru: A father realising his dreams through his daughters the theme of the top grossing Aamir Khan starrer Dangal had its echo at the Mysuru Dasara on Friday with seven -year- old Rifah Taskeen stunning the crowds with her amazing stunts performed on her Quad desert bike.
The daughter of Tajudin, a contractor, who himself was a racing enthusiast, a stuntman and dancer in several films, Rifah was trained by her father since she was a baby to do the jaw dropping stunts she performed at the inauguration of the Chinnara Mela.
“I would love to drive a Formula One car one day," said the daring girl, whose eventual ambition is to become a pilot. A Class II student of St Joseph's School in Bannimantap here, she was accompanied by her principal Maria Gracilda, who said Rifah was the star during Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations. “She has amazing confidence,” she said.
Tajudin recounts how thwarted from fulfilling his own dream of participating in international racing events, he “waited for a son to train to do what I couldn’t”. When both his kids turned out to be girls, the undaunted Tajudin “trained them instead.”
While his older daughter, Shifa Saher too is a pro at racing, she is more keen on becoming an IPS officer. So he shifted his focus to Rifah. “I put her on my lap when driving and she learnt to drive herself when she was just three years. She can now drive any car ranging from a Maruti 800, to Scorpio, Swift, Bolero, Tata Ace and even a lorry,” said Tajudin, clearly proud of his daughter's achievements.
Although, how a seven year old can reach the wheel and the brakes at the same time remains a mystery!
Meanwhile, at the Raitha Dasara, which also began on Friday, a farm woman, 35- year- old M Girija, was felicitated for cultivating over 100 kinds of crop on a piece of barren land in Kaamenahalli in K R Nagar taluk, 60 kms from Mysuru, through organic farming and good water management practices despite the drought. Her husband , Murali, is not a farmer himself and owns a factory. Five years ago, seeing his wife's interest in farming, he bought four- and- a- half acres of barren land in KR Nagar and the couple began to collect all kinds of plants , including millets, a few varieties of apple, lichis, strawberries and several other rare crops. "We have only two workers and have done everything on our own. Girija even tills the land herself," Mr Murali revealed proudly.
