Life would indeed be good and safe with just teddy bears, barbie dolls and pink nailpolishes around. But there's something about me that gets super excited about travel and modes of travel - the wanderlust inside me manifests in different forms! This conclusion has come upon some real careful observation. I wouldn't say nothing excites me better. Just that this is something that gives some exhilarating experience. So, now you know what the post is going to be about - bikes, my love for them.
I don't know when this love for bikes developed. When I grew up, my mode of travel everywhere was bikes - dad and uncle's, atleast then. Rajapalayam has a bad public transport system and it was only in chennai did i first get a taste of how public transport actually works. So it all started probably with the 'gems' outings - from early childhood (infancy is it?) until 1st standard or so when i ceremonially go almost every evening and get a packet of gems( the little colourful yummy chocoloates) once dad comes home. I simply used to love it - maybe not for the bike rides atleast for the chocolates. Then to school and back, though i might have hated the ride in the mornings as i realise now that i am born to be perenially late, be it 2nd grade in school or final year of college!
And then, it was school bus for some time and my tryst with bikes halted. Then came my scooty. Yes, my automobile knowledge is good enough, i wudnt call scooty a bike, but for all practical purposes, let it be! From 9th standard to this day, its my most intimate, trusted possession, though i have almost stopped using it these days. Getting back on track, my bike friend would be rathika, the only one who trusted me enough to ride pillion, my dearest and most adorable friend to this day. The experience is something inexplicable - the first freedom it gives u, the first leash of fresh boldness to shout at someone on the road, to zoom past someone, to overtake the one who juz overtook you and look back, yes, life's small pleasures give you more happiness indeed.
Then its was the 11th class - the bike show during the sports day - though a group of boys did it, i really used to admire this guy shri ohm, my classmate for his biking skills - just that i guess he tried out the same on my scooty and ended up making a mess of it! He could do awesome wheelies and that super fast turns (oops i forgot the name! what was it?) apart from the usual stunts that every guy on earth probably tries out! He was extremely good at it, probably the best i have seen so far! (Sad, that he had to undergo a surgery coz of injuries due to his antics on the bike!) It was at those moments, for once, i wished i was a boy! Now, that's a confession!
Back to my story, towards the end of 12th standard, we (me and rathika) took great pride in how we actually escaped the policeman at a particular signal for four long years - While all the big bad biker guys of class had their stories of what happened to them without a license at the police station! Wow!! We actually had the guts to look at him straight on his face and pass a smile - no dupattas covering the face, mostly in school uniforms which blatantly blurts out that we were still not that legitimately old enough to get a license. But the world has good souls like him! Thank you police uncle! I wish TN police has more ppl like u! :) Now dont book me under any rule, this is not a confession! And rathika was the partner in crime - super cool even when some 5 drunk auto drivers surrounded us and started blasting for something as small as breaking the indicator lamp glass - that too with the impact of a scooty! Very funny!
And then, towards the end of school, the ride became more and more sentimental, how we would miss the ride, how life would become all boring if i get a license, how we would miss the sweet smile of the policeman, how never in life would we be able to get away with minor accidents with a biiiiiig grin and an angelic innocence on our faces, assuming false identities. There's one thing here, in rajapalayam, you can't afford to let your name, especially your family's name out in any circumstance. If i overspeed, my mom would know it even before i reach home. So concealed identities used to be a big thing over there,though not any more, here i am a non-entity! Yes, all that we talked during jan, feb and march 2006 is all true. I really really miss it! I wish i can go back to the maths tution and the physics tution days - when we used to overtake the tution master himself, just to be on time - talk of punctuality! Not to forget the advices that follow - "dont overspeed, especially in such bad roads", and then that becomes the excuse for being late the next day! Sounds like a girl who has never had fun all her life, i know, but that's something very very close to heart and i dont have the power of words to explain it!And then it was college - i had to take the public transport, though it came with its own range of fun during travel. But i havent bothered to take a license until today - procrastination at its worst! So, naturally i miss all that fun of going out, 47A now being my closest friend now!
To this day, my biggest bike experience has been on UP roads - in Noida around midnight! Mostly pillion! Wowww!! I remember it so vividly! UP/Delhi's lack of road law and order adding to the fun! I wish i get it back! The black pulsar! That was also the time when i actually got to try out a looooong time wish of mine - to ride a bike,all by myself! It was the same black pulsar.. Though i never progressed far beyond the 2nd gear, it was a long cherished wish! And, yeah not to mention my ignorance - in scooty the left arm control was the brake and in bikes, it's the cluctch, my mind never took this point seriously and i ended up having a hearty laugh in the end! Half of my love of NCR comes from the love of roads, be it the AIIMS flyover, DND flyway, the loooong flyover in the inner ring road, the most beautiful NH-8, the expressway.. Everything.. If there's something called on top of world feeling, it riding on such roads, minus the irritating traffic ofcourse! No exaggeration!
So yeah, as u can sense, if writing about it can generate so much enthusiasm in me, doing it in reality would obviously do a lot more good to my spirits. Back from the summer fun, life has generally been boring on this front - just tried twice riding arvi's bike and made a mess of my image :P and yeah, saw his antics once near annai - a wheelie that never went beyond a 20 degree i would say, sorry arvi for that dig! I know you have a dubious distinction about wheelies, just that your bike wasnt in proper shape that day! The whole love of bikes story flashes everytime i hear dhoni mentioning a 800cc bike or seeing a launch of a really good looking bike or seeing someone zooming past with the air buzzing on the face, ripping through the wind, when you get a feeling of floating in air! Omg! Why should boys have all the fun! Doesnt mean i would say scooty is no good. It has its own share of fun, no changing gears at signals, you would be the first one to take off, probably you wont rip through wind, you could definitely enjoy the breeze! Gals can indeed have fun! That's probably i luv every ad with this concept - From the silly village gal ad featuring priyanka, why should boys have all the fun, and the more recent, tu peeche baitega ad! Hilarious!
These are things that make life more interesting and i just hope this passion runs alive, though i might not get to ride a bike that very often, and get laughed at by my bro and cousins in the process! Yes, the passion can be kept alive by dragging people to a mall just to catch a glimpse of an all new macho yamaha or a lambhorgini or the breathtaking BMW showroom or even a more accessible volkswagen showroom! Seeing is believing they say, isnt it? :P So yeah, god, lemme own a superbike in the future, and have a good chaffeur friend/bf coz i cant always go through the ordeal of parking lots and traffic jams, hehe.. Long live bikes, bikers and bike manufacturing companies!!!
