Nivetha Jessica, a young woman fuelled with a passion for racing is a professional motorcycle racer who was born in Chennai. She was brought up by a single mother Malarkodi and has a sister named Geetha.
Nivetha was fascinated with bikes right from a very young age. She learnt to ride one from her neighbor uncle when she was in class 9. She schooled at RKM Sarada Vidyalaya Matriculation School in T.Nagar and studied in a private college where she completed BTech in Biotechnology.
After she completed her schooling, she obtained a driving license to ride a motorcycle. During her first year in college, she joined Royal Enfield as a ride coordinator. She managed to cope with both studies and the job as her work was on one weekday evening and on the weekends. She says that it was financial necessity that made her take up this part time assignment to fund her education.
Nivetha later joined Riding Clubs of Royal Enfield and Java. She says that a decade ago, she was the only girl in the club and the men in the club were not comfortable with just a solo girl in the club.
It was at that moment that a spark ignited in her mind to try out racing. Her opportunity to make this spark a reality came in the year 2016 when TVS and Honda organized a motorcycle racing event for women in Goa. This event is organized every year in India and is an off road race. Nivetha participated in this race in the 500cc category and won the third place in her very first race. This victory spurred her on to achieve her dream of becoming a professional motorcycle racer.
In 2017, she started track racing at the Madras International Circuit. During this period, Nivetha had a bad accident. She fell down from the bike and broke her collar bone. She had to undergo an operation and the doctors advised her to take a break from racing for at least 3 to 4 months. Since the selection for the racing event in Bengaluru was just 10 days later, Nivetha did not let this injury stop her from taking part. However she was not selected as she could not put in her full effort.
She was coached by Sharath Kumar who was the first Indian to represent the country in World Championship Racing. His training helped her a lot and she learnt the nuances of racing from him.
In 2018, she went for the selection for the National Championship that took place in Coimbatore. Nivetha secured the second position and she picked up a lot of confidence after this victory and decided to take up racing as a career.
She bagged the first prize in the TVS ONE MAKE Championship held in 2019 and also the first place in the Indian National Drag Racing Championship the same year
Nivetha won the third place in the Indian National Drag Racing Championship 2021 and the second place in the Single Rally Series 2023.
During the pandemic period, she started a club for women bikers in September 2020. It is India’s first women’s motorcycle club run by a woman. She announced on social media about her intention to start the club and was happy to receive response from more than 100 women. They connected through Google Meet and group calls since they could not meet in person.
After the pandemic, they met in person and discussed about how to bring in more women to this sport. Currently there are around 1500 members in this club. They are mostly from Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Bengaluru, Hubli, Hyderabad, Delhi and Lucknow. Her club will complete its 4th anniversary on September 29th this year.
Nivetha says that initially when she got into racing, she received a lot of discouragement but it was her mother who supported her throughout.
Her achievements have been recognized by the state government and she has been appointed as the State Deputy Secretary in the DMK Sports Wing.
Her hobbies are dancing and watching comedy shows. She is not a movie person and has hardly watched films.
Nivetha maintains a strict diet with more protein intake along with fruits and vegetables and avoids junk food. She says that physical fitness is a must for racing and racers have to work out a lot to keep fit.
When it comes to the risk factor, she says that risk is kept to the minimum as all racers use safety gear like a racing suit and helmet. They are also trained in techniques on how to crash safely. She has had 150 crashes in her career so far.
She has trained more than 50 women bikers to take part in National level racing and is instrumental in setting up the first College Riding Club at Karpaga Vinayaga Educational Institute.
Nivetha has won a plethora of awards. Some of these include Young Achiever Award in 2019 from the APJ Abdul Kalam Association, Young Achiever Award from Tamilnadu Chief Minister MK Stalin in 2021, Most Inspiring Circuit Racer in 2021 from the Beast Riders Team, National Motorcycle Champion in 2021 from the Madras Motorsport Club and the Sonia Gandhi Award in 2023 from the TN Congress Committee.
Nivetha drives a car while commuting and limits motorcycles to the race track. She says racing on the track is totally different from riding on the roads.
Her club has participated in many awareness campaigns including the BREAST CANCER AWARENESS PINK BIKETHON in collaboration with Kauvery Hospital and the FIGHT AGAINST COVID DRIVE. Her club has been a pioneer in developing and promoting women in motorsport since 2020. She has an experienced team which aims to play a leading role in creating more opportunities for women in Motorsports.
Juliana Sridhar is a lawyer and columnist
