Some criticise, a few applaud bride leading bike convoy

The Daily Star  August 26, 2020

A video of a bride driving a motorcycle to her holud ceremony recently went viral on social media triggering mixed reactions.

Adorned in a light green kameez complete with bangles dangling from her hands, bride Farhana Afroze Dreamy, an MBA student of Daffodil International University, was seen leading a convoy of bikes being driven by her siblings and friends as they headed to the ceremony.

The video received compliments from many and people praised Farhana for breaking stereotypes.

Many others, however, chose to criticise her for abandoning traditional norms. Some others lamented the absence of a helmet.

According to reports on other media outlets, Farhana has been riding a bike since 2007 and had always planned to do something different for her wedding. This is why she chose to ride a bike to both her holud and wedding ceremony.

When the video went viral, Farhana ended up replying to some of the comments on a female bike riders’ group on Facebook, “I don’t know why everyone is so enraged just because I entered my holud riding a bike with my siblings and friends.

“A lot of people now wear different attires and do many things at their wedding…” she wrote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farhana also said it wasn’t possible for her to wear a helmet with her elaborate outfit, but knew that she was in the wrong.

She also said that while she did not care about the comments, her siblings and friends are unable to take the negativity.

Women rights activist Khushi Kabir praised Farhana for breaking the glass ceiling and said, “A culture is never static. It evolves over the years. The way we got married is different from our mothers, our grandmothers.

“Riding bikes and cycles is a praiseworthy trend nowadays and the government also supports this. Some might not like this, but they don’t have the right to circulate videos with negative and derogatory comments,” Khushi added.