Making the bikes tell a story

Overcoming depression and making herself stand firm with her skills makes Singajogi Satyaveni, the only female 3D artist, who paints bikes with innovative themes –stand as an example to many young women.

A tragedy that shook her entire career carved a path to something that she is known today. Satyaveni shares her story…

She was a tennis champion, who had to quit college after an accident changed her life and threw her into depression.

"I broke my leg when I was heading back home after a tournament and I happened to lose my ankle and underwent an operation that took a lot of time to recover.

I quit my college and locked myself in a room. I also tried to commit suicide.

One day my mother gifted me a Royal Enfield and asked me to move out of the house, learn to ride it and then come back riding the bike. I did learn to ride the bike with the help of my cousin."

She adds, "I was under medication for depression and anxiety. I spoke very less with people about my past as I tried to stay away from it.

Later, I realised that my story inspired people. My sister gave me an idea of turning my journey into a design and putting it on my bike tank, as I had a passion for painting since my childhood.

I got into my garage and started experimenting on my bike and it took 16 days to design the whole thing. Painting on bike was a difficult task.

There was no one in the market who will guide you into painting bikes and being a female it is always stereotyped as to why you need it as you are a girl.

It took a lot time to get it right, and then I took a few pictures and posted it on my Instagram page.

When I posted the pictures on social media, I never expected such huge response from all over India and that is how I started getting confidence to do it as career," she shares.

Impressed with what she did to her bike, people started asking her to paint their bikes as well. "I looked around to see if there was any other woman, who was into this profession and I found out that there was no one.

People also started to question me when I wanted to take it up as a full-fledged because I am a girl. I asked my sister to quit her job, as she is a graphic designer.

She helped me in tracing the design before I painted it on the bike."

In addition to painting bikes and helmets, Satyaveni also teaches other women to ride a bike.

"I am riding a bike since four years and last year in 2018, for about six months I taught 70 women to learn to ride gear bikes." She also stresses that people who learnt from her to ride a bike have a truly emotional sytory to share.

'Womeneoteric Customs' (Women who do creative innovation) is the name of her customised bike painting company.

She believes that she and her sister (two women) play a major role in customising these bikes and so she would love to share the space naming it such.

Elaborating on the materials that she uses to paint the bikes and helmet, she shares, "The colours that you see generally on the bikes are of 2K and 4K volume and so whatever brand, we choose the same volume, which stays on the bike.

There is a lot of process put into it while painting as we need to scrub, paint, apply acid, make it rust free, put primer and you get the colour on the bike.

To seal the colour we use clear coat to protect it. The speciality of our painting is '3D' on bikes and helmets; it took six months for us to experiment on this and it is a home-made recipe as we mix three types of clay and put it on the bikes and helmet.

It is completely hand carved and it takes hours to complete it. To paint a helmet, it takes around 2 days to complete and for a bike tank it takes 4 days and for 3D it takes 10 days."

Getting trolled for her biking, never affected her, "I used to get comments where men used to say can I sit back and get a ride and if you are riding a bike should I ride a scooty.

These things never affected me and will not in future; I just have one question - Is it written anywhere that a woman should ride a scooty only?"

Satyaveni states, "I could say that my mother and my sister have been a huge support throughout my journey and I thank them each second as whatever I am today, it is because of these women in my life."