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It is a battle on the road

Do men get upset when a woman overtakes them on the road?

UNFAZED Even when men overtake them

The battle between Mars and Venus has been in existence since time immemorial. It manifests itself in many ways. One such clash of the sexes takes place on road.

Most women who drive are aware of this, so do men, though many may not want to admit it. It hurts a man when a woman zips past him on the road, consciously or unconsciously. But what do women have to say to this?

Just ignore it.

"There are times when I drive a little too fast to reach my destination early and, in such instances, if I ever overtake a man, I am invariably overtaken by him soon enough. Most men prefer to go ahead of me. I prefer to ignore it, but that obviously doesn't stop me from riding the way I do," says Shikha Verma, a client service executive.

She is definitely not the only one who feels that way. Kiran G. Chabria, a 23-year-old, says, "This happens to me many times. When the signal turns green, I want to move fast, like everyone else. But I've noticed that if a woman overtakes, the men ensure they overtake you somehow. Well, it doesn't bother me much, but it doesn't seem to be the case with men."Of course, she doesn't want to be left behind in the race. "Given a chance, I do zoom and race past many other male riders," says Kiran.

Men have their own opinion on the matter.

"I guess, it is just human instinct of showing your superiority over others. In this case, it's about one's driving prowess. I don't think it has anything to do with being a man or woman. If it was a man instead of a woman, we would still react the same way," says Ajay Gupta, an IT professional.

But K. V. Anand, senior sales manager, links the overtaking bit to the attractiveness of the woman.

"Maybe, men do it just to get a better glimpse of a pretty woman on a bike."

MANGALA RAMAMOORTHY

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