Off-road champion's stunning election win; Know more about Pala native teacher Riya Bino

KOTTAYAM: The moment she grips the steering wheel, a confidence seeps inside which makes potholes, bumps and unevenly cluttered roads look inconsequential. Riya Bino, a teacher at Pala British Kinder School, is a champion in off-road events. Now, this 24-year-old has won a stunning victory in the local body elections.

Congress candidate Riya won the Kaveekunnu 8th ward of Pala Municipality by defeating Kerala Congress (Mani) candidate Shinni Thomas by 97 votes. Riya, the eldest daughter of off-road driving superstar Bino Jose of Kaveekunnu, Cheeramkuzhi, started driving from the eighth grade. Lessons and expert tips from her father turned driving into a much easier thrill rather than an arduous learning experience.

She learned her first lessons in Bino's Bullet and Jeep. Riya obtained her driving license at the age of 18 and her heavy license two years ago. She uses a 2005 model Jeep for off-roading.

Riya's father, Bino, grandfather, and father's younger brother, Jose, were her inspirations for off-road driving. The family had a rubber plantation and a granite quarry in Pala. Goods, including diesel, were transported to the quarry in jeeps and gypsies. Most of the journeys in the jeep were on more difficult roads than off-road. These trips, with her father as the co-driver in the jeep, made Riya develop a fixation with off-road driving.

In 2019, while participating in an off-road event in Vagamon, the jeep she was driving overturned, leaving everyone scared. She has participated in events in Wayanad, Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Idukki and won trophies and cash prizes. Her mother is Asha. Rose, Rona and Richu are siblings.

More than winning prizes, off-road driving is a craze. Although she drives all kinds of vehicles, her favourites are the Jeep and Thar.