Your friends wont lend you their bike for learning if you dont know bike-riding and You are not allowed to buy one until you learn bike-riding...! This has been an eternal deadlock I been facing all my life...and one needs to break the chain boldly if at all one wants to really own a bike eventually...

So there I was one fine day, boldly asking one of my friends to lend me the bike as I had to go out ...I went to the bike but was unable even to start it ! I realized I needed an unselfish guru who can teach you not minding the prospective damages to his own bike. Thus came along my Guru - Mr. Anil Babu who took the biggest risk of teaching me the Fundamentals of Bike-Riding. It did not take many days for me to learn as I was very comfortable with gearless bikes already... 5 days passed and my guru was relieved to find that his bike was safe and sound with no depreciation in the capital asset.

Then I started venturing out on my own... !


Bike Ride 1: It was a solo act just to test out my prowess in handling the machine without instructions pouring into my ears from behind...I had no destination in mind...All I wanted was to survive the next 20 minutes. I started the bike with some effort (the bike was totally reluctant to move a bit u see... it was more afraid than I) and lo! I was on the road all by myself...The bike stopped exactly after 1 minute of the ride. It said 'Dude,this is too funny! We both gonna die if you drive this sane'. Cant give up on the first ride! I persisted till I eventually managed to reach a petrol station to fuel it up. When I came back to the hostel, I had to count my limbs and fingers and Thank God! they totaled up fine.

Bike Ride 2: I became more adventurous.. This time I claimed to my friend that I am an expert rider. So he allowed me to do the honors and he sat on the pillion seat. It was 12:00 in the midnight. The destination was India Gate - A place where you can reach at 1:00am and still have some good time pass(oh.. that kaala-khatta there !!). The bike stopped once or twice in the middle but we reached the spot :) I did it again. My first successful night travel.

Bike Ride 3: I now thought I am really an expert, so this time I ventured much further and proposed to a dear friend who was another bike-novice that I will take him till Sangam Theatre to buy the first day-midnight show tickets for Jodha Akbar. This I got to admit must be the worst bike-ride ever for anyone !! The bike stopped atleast 20 times at various crucial junctures (surely understating)...A Prado was right at our rear, and the driver started honking as if it was some kind of a honking contest..I felt as if an elephant is just gonna trample upon me. Then again it stopped at every single traffic signal! You stop at a traffic signal and you would get to hear so many beautiful gaalis in so many different native tongues. If one has to see the true diversity of India, it is at the traffic signals. Man! No orchestra can beat the kind of honks and gaalis you get to hear. My confidence got blown into smithereens this time. But mind you, Manugarras of the world are not among those who give up so easily.


Bike Ride 4: This was the first time I took courage to actually offer a girl a ride till Priyas. I knew that if anything like the ride before happened again, my morale as well my reputation as a reliable bike-rider would be put to rest and sent off to the nearest mortuary. I was too cautious not to let the clutch slip off from my hands and surprisingly managed a very safe and successful ride!! She was impressed. May be it was my guardian angel who actually rode the bike this time.

Bike Ride 5: Confidence restored, this time I offered my another friend, a ride till the nearest market. He got flabbergasted when I told him this was my Ride No-5. He seriously suspected something funny would happen and that he would find himself falling off the bike with my stunts. Nothing funny of that sort happened, but this time the bike stopped right in the middle of the road when I was taking a U-turn and an auto-rickshaw had to apply sudden brakes to stop just inches away from me. My heart took a small leap out of its bearings. He started swearing in the names of all the Gods he knew. I just smiled at him.

Its amazing how this world is still such a safe place with expert bike-riders like me loose on the roads.


PS: Commuters Beware! The next time you see a bike approaching wildly at you, do your prayers, it could very well be me ;)