Category: Health & Wellbeing

How Indian Cities Are (Slowly) Becoming More Cycle-Friendly for Women

The Gender Gap Is Real

Studies on cycling in Indian cities have flagged a clear pattern: women cyclists face unwarranted gestures and hostile behaviour from male motorists, which pushes many to avoid cycling altogether or change their routes to stick to busier, better-lit streets. Urban infrastructure, researchers note, has largely been designed around able-bodied, middle-class men — not around the women and girls who might benefit most from cheap, independent transport.

What’s Slowly Changing

Under the Smart Cities Mission, the India Cycles4Change Challenge pushed dozens of Indian cities to pilot cycling infrastructure, with gender-inclusive design increasingly part of the brief. A 2020 roundtable convened by Bengaluru’s transport authority with WRI India specifically flagged issues that matter to women cyclists: better street lighting for evening riders, safe cycle parking and a connected network of cycle tracks. Some cities have also piloted cycle-repair clinics so women aren’t stranded by a flat tyre with no one to help.

Cycling Hasn’t Disappeared — It’s Been Pushed to the Margins

Recent research across Maharashtra cities found that cycling volumes remain high at peak hours even where infrastructure is incomplete — cyclists haven’t gone away, they’ve simply become less visible on streets not designed with them in mind. A broader 2026 multi-city study covering Delhi and Chennai found that policy, implementation and gender gaps continue to hold back safer cycling for women specifically.

What Actually Helps

  1. Protected, well-lit cycling lanes rather than painted lines on traffic-heavy roads
  2. Cycle parking near markets, schools and transit stations
  3. Enforcement against harassment, not just infrastructure
  4. Involving women cyclists directly in planning, not just consulting them after the fact

Bottom Line

Cities that want more women cycling need to design for them from the start — lighting, safety and respect, not just paint on the road. Until then, the gender gap on India’s streets will keep outpacing the gains in infrastructure.

Traveling With a Chronic Illness: What I’ve Learned

Reframe What “Good Travel” Looks Like

A trip built around rest days, shorter distances and flexible plans isn’t a lesser trip. It’s simply one designed around your actual body instead of an Instagram itinerary.

Before You Book

  • Research hospitals and pharmacies near your destination
  • Check if your medication is legal and available there
  • Confirm your travel insurance covers your condition
  • Choose accommodation with easy access — lifts, ground floor, proximity to help

Packing That Actually Protects You

  1. Carry medicines in original packaging with prescriptions
  2. Pack extra doses in case of delays
  3. Split medication between two bags in case one is lost
  4. Carry a simple medical summary card with your condition, medications and emergency contact

Pacing the Trip Itself

Plan one main activity a day instead of three. Build in buffer time between travel legs. Choose destinations with slower transitions over multi-city sprints when your body needs it.

Communicate Without Over-Explaining

You don’t owe anyone your full medical history. A simple “I need to go slow today” or “I have a condition that needs regular breaks” is enough for travel companions, guides or hotel staff.

The Emotional Part

Cancelling a plan or resting through half a trip can feel like failure. It isn’t. Chronic illness travel is still travel — just measured in what you experienced, not how much ground you covered.

Bottom Line

Traveling with a chronic illness asks for more preparation and self-compassion, not less courage. The world is still there to see — just at the pace your body can actually enjoy it.