It's a wo(man)'s world

Pratika Prabhuney 19 gt Bass Guitarist Pratika Prabhuneyrsquos reason to pick up the bass guitar is amusing ldquoAt 13 I had broken my hand As a form of exercise I learnt the guitar from my brother as he needed a bass guitarist for his band I was always a fan of Metal so I asked myself why notrdquo reveals Prabhuney who is now the vocalist and bass guitarist for her brotherrsquos band Chronic Phobia Her mother who was part of a band as a collegian supported her fully Pratika centre with members of Chronic Phobia Women bass guitarists arenrsquot familiar in India Naturally initial reactions that this collegian from Bandrarsquosu00a0St Andrewrsquos College received werenrsquot normal ldquoAt my first gig at Poddar College everyone stared at me Nowadays people are used to it Though I do get weird Facebook messages like ldquoI love women who play guitar please add merdquo and ldquoI love Metal music and you are in a band can we be friendsrdquo rdquo Chronic Phobia has performed across India and has opened for international acts like Cyanide Serenity Prabhuney even judges competitions at city colleges She lent her vocals to a track by the band Demonic Resurrection and has performed with them at Independence Rock One of her best experiences was being a part of the documentary by Heavy Metal band Lamb of God which was shot in countries where they had performed ldquoThey wanted to document Mumbai because of the multiple terror attacks I accompanied them to some of those spotsrdquo shares Pratika who is keen to take up copywriting and a filmmaking Sadhana Romi Lalwani 53 gt Nightspot Owner Ten years ago in 2003 Romi Lalwani opened popular Bandra nightspot Hawaiian Shack However in 2005 when he passed away suddenly his 45yearoldwife Sadhana Lalwani until then a homemaker had to take over its management ldquoMy family was totally against it I had led a sheltered life till then and my parents advised me to shut the club down Sadhana Lalwani seated with daughter Sheen Everyone insisted that running a nightclub was a male domain mdash you have to deal with the cops tackle people who go overboard with liquor handle bouncers and get BMC permits which involves a lot of work But since it was my husband39s dream I was determined to not give uprdquo recalls Sadhana Lalwani now 53 She adds that while there were detractors many supported her ldquoSenior policemen as well as older clients treated me with respect Initially I was worried about staff management and whether senior staff would accept me in this role I managed to create my own image and today we work as a team When you experience death firsthand it helps you overcome fear If you have faith in yourself are ready to make sacrifices are selfdisciplined and donrsquot give up in life you will be successfulrdquo shares Lalwani She believes that that despite the stiff competition she is unfazed The secret to Hawaiian Shack she tells us was to offer something different and better than its competitors Now theyrsquove opened a branch in Juhu This past year Sadhanarsquos daughter 27yearold Sheen Lalwani joined her mother and together they manage the buzzing nightspot Alisha Abdullah 23 gt Fastest Indian woman biker Alisha Abdullah isnrsquot your average bikeriding woman ldquoItrsquos tough being a woman in motorsports especially if you are better than the men Men donrsquot like to lose I started racing quite early with gokarts I would race only with men and they would gang up against me Many times I was pushed off the track deliberately And I would cry I never liked to loserdquo This wonder woman then moved to Formula cars at 16 and there too she faced the same problem ldquoIt was quite tough At 17 I moved to bikes and came second in the national championship in Chennai and Coimbatore tracks But all that made me really strongrdquo says the Chennaibased biker After she was gifted a superbike for her 20th birthday she won the National Championships in 600 cc superbike category ldquoI was the fastest superbike female racer But then I met with an accident and began racing four wheelers It wasnrsquot easy there were times when men behaved badly At one championship a man showed me his legs in a sexual manner while I was riding on the trackrdquo recalls the Abdullah adding ldquoI would be really scared But my family supported me throughout Even today some men I race with try to discourage me They tell me that being the only girl I have achieved everything and since Irsquove proven enough I should quit Itrsquos time to back offrdquo But all these hurdles only made her stronger ldquoIt has taught me how to carry my attitude on the track and off the track There are many women like me who are equally goodrdquo says Abdullah who is also a racing car driver She believes that women have more ego than men and this needs to be curbed ldquoYou canrsquot think of wining at the beginning Itrsquos a lot of hard work Being a girl you must sacrifice more Guys will be there to throw you off Stay focussed and strong If you can do a wheelie on the road do it on the track instead mdash itrsquos saferrdquo she reasons Surabhi Date 21 lt Captain Indiarsquos Rugby team She dreamt of becoming Indiarsquos next Sania Mirza but fate had other plans for Surabhi Date The Punebased youngster is the captain of Indiarsquos young and upcoming womenrsquos rugby team mdash a sport that didnrsquot have an Indian womenrsquos team until 2008 and was only a manrsquos domain ldquoI started off with tennis and wanted to play like Sania Mirza and Maria Sharapova But I could never perform wellrdquo says Date who then joined Kfandra an academy for football and rugby training in Pune ldquoI joined this academy to boost my fitness that was the initial plan But while playing I became very good at football Its then when I realised that probably Irsquom better off in a team sportrdquo adds Date sharing that the next choice for her was rugby which stuck with her thereafter ldquoI got interested in rugby and I began liking the game so much that I didnrsquot look back after thatrdquo she says But isnrsquot the aggression of rugby difficult to deal with ldquoRugby is a great way to vent frustration I fell in love with the game when I started playing it and nothing is difficult if you really like itrdquo she reasons Date began playing rugby when she was all of 19 and makes it a point to mention that her parents always encouraged her Fawzia Fathima 41 gt Cinematographer Fawzia Fathima mdash coming from a family of doctors mdash took the road less travelled that involved many twists and turns such as joining the NCC pilot training and a Masters in Art Criticism yet the nonconformist found her true calling in cinematography A profession that involved lifting 30 to 40 kgs of heavy equipment hectic schedules calling the shot on the filmrsquos visual aesthetics and if not enough leading your own team consisting of a gaffer three camera assistants and a focus puller She says ldquoThe profession involved all aspects of my personality from athletic and intellectual to aesthetic Although I wasnrsquot very clear about what it meant but it tested the lsquomachorsquo in me Being already committed to it I was challenged at the Film and Television Institute of India to do it and I was readyu00a0to show that I couldrdquo She recalls that when she was not taken seriously shersquod often threaten and carry out tasks that werenrsquot meant for a DOP thereby shaming the crew into doing the required tasks Thirteen years hence she has worked with the National Award winner PC Sreeram as well as on the film Mitr mdash My Friend and is recognised as a ldquolegendrdquou00a0