I LOVE BIKES

Let me make it clear from the start that my knowledge about bikes is null. All I know is that I love bikes and go crazy over them. Yes, it’s possible to be passionate about bikes inspite of being totally ignorant about their technical aspects. My dad has a bike. It’s a Rajdoot. I wonder if anyone has even heard about such a model. It can be better described as a piece of antique. It has been with us ever since I can remember infact it was with my dad even before I was born. We have nicknamed it “Dhug Dhuk” because it makes a kinda funny sound.
Before we bought a four wheeler the bike was our only means of transport. The four of us have jam packed ourselves onto it and driven off to so many places. It is still a wonder to me how we all managed to squeeze into it and rode off from Trivandrum to Iddukki and back again without any major calamities. I , being the youngest , had to sit on the petrol tank. This was really cool for me because I could pretend that I was riding the bike and having races with imaginary foes.

As I grew up (I had to sit at the back since I become tall) I started feeling uncomfortable with my bike. I have had innumerable extremely embarrassing moments on my bike. It just breaks down in the middle of the road and refuses to start inspite of furious kicks by my dad while I try my best to look as if the bike doesn’t belong to me(this is difficult since I’m sitting on it).When the horning and rude remarks by those drivers unfortunate enough to be caught behind us become unbearable the bike would be pushed to the nearest garage by my dad and I would be left to walk back home.

Freaky guys on gleaming, super fast bikes jeered at my poor old rajdoot. Though I still loved my “Dhug Dhuk” I started wishing for something new. Then we bought an activa which is a scooter as you all know. It was new, fast, smooth and most importantly not embarrassing. I told my friends about my “new” scooter and proudly went on it with my dad. But I felt something missing. Activa was too smooth and devoid of anything exciting. It lacked that power I used to feel on my old bike. So it was sold and we went back to our Rajdoot again.
My dad is an extremely careful driver and so I never had a chance to experience the feel of racing through the traffic which is something all bike riders talk about (besides rajdoot couldn’t go that fast). I always wanted to try out this so called “craze for race” and once I got a chance. My family friend took me on his bike. He was driving so fast that I could make out only blurs of what was around me. The wind was blowing in all possible directions that it totally confused me. In movies the wind blows in only a single direction and the heroine’s hair blows back romantically. My hair on the other hand was a total mess by the time we reached our destination. I was shivering since the above mentioned wind was also extremely cold and apart from that there had been many sudden brakes and jolting starts (as we all know Indian roads are definitely not meant for racing). This incident killed my racing spirit.

So if I don’t like racing why the hell do I say I love bikes because according to everyone bikes = speed. What I like best about bikes is the energy we feel while riding them….the strong , secure feeling you get when the machine vibrates beneath you.. the way this majestic device slides along a side road….the ability of this magnificent two wheeler to squeeze through the tiniest gaps in a traffic block and yet it does not appear to be insignificant…

Bikes (driven at a normal speed) make me happy. Going on my dad’s bikes especially at night is something truly wonderful. While going along a lonely pitch dark road (power cut going on) with the headlight giving just minimum light I feel as if I’m sliding through air. It gives me a feeling of flying at ground level. It’s a feeling only a bike can give you.

Now my biggest desire is to ride a bike. People laugh when I say this because it seems you need strength and muscles to ride a bike and I have neither. But maybe one day I’ll grow fat and strong and can ride a truly cool bike. But till then my “dhug dhuk” will continue to give me powerful moments to cherish forever.

PS: It was midnight when I wrote this blog and I had my maths board exam the next day. I think that is evidence enough for my passion for bikes.