Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai

 

There are rules and there are laws, but then there are people who are above these mundane restrictions. We Indoreans are a cut above the rest, after all, we boast of belonging to the cleanest city in the country for a record seven times. We carry a chip on our shoulders and make it a point to economise on fuel consumption as well. Guess what, when there are three or four people wishing to go some place, we are prepared to rough it out and adjust on a single two wheeler. So much so that we make it a point not to travel if there are only two of us, but wait to get a third one to go with us. The traffic police are concerned about the pollution levels and the traffic congestion hence any two wheeler rider with just one or two riding them are subject to being hauled up for traffic violations. But three, four or at times even five is perfectly fine, the more the merrier, after all it is for a cause that we sacrifice our comfort. Most of us may not have heard of Chetwode and the Indian Military Academy credo of “…your own ease and comfort come last each and every time”, but we follow it religiously nevertheless. 

It is not just the number of pillion riders alone, which makes us special, but we are also daredevils as we believe in the dictum that helmets are for the sissies and avoid them like the plague. If for some reason, we are forced to carry them, then it is the elbow which adorns this headgear, as elbows need to be protected more than our heads. We are aware that our heads contain precious little and we could drive headless should the need arise, but elbows are an appendage which helps in steering the bikes as also for ‘elbow bending’

cometh the hour. Moreover the gush of wind which strokes our rugged persona and the flowing tresses go a long way in making a statement to the public at large and to our objects of attention about our larger than life image.

Traffic rules, well what are these, we have nothing to do with them. We are free birds and roam the streets in gay abandon with nothing to tie us down. So traffic lights and crossings serve a major purpose in displaying our skills at making a dash despite the incoming rush of vehicles from the opposite side. The motorcycle riders team of Daredevils of Corps of Signals of Indian Army can take a leaf out of our skills. Then we are also adept at demonstrating our manoeuvrability by squeezing through the tiniest of gaps between vehicles in our bid to emerge at the head. Our bravado is unmatched and even kamikaze pilots of Japanese Airforce can take a cue from our total disdain for ours or anyone else’s life. When we leave the premises in the morning even Gods cannot be sure whether we will be back in one piece. We can be compared to the revolutionaries as “Sar par kafan bandh kar hi to  hum chalte hain"

The municipality also helps us in honing our skills by ensuring that roads have adequate obstacles by means of potholes, unmarked speed-breakers and digging up large swathes of roads anywhere and everywhere to keep us guessing to make the whole exercise more interesting and challenging. During the monsoons, these potholes become puddles large enough to devour smaller vehicles and the trick is to negotiate them without flinching and emerging a winner. As the famous catchline for a famous ad goes, “Dar ke age Jeet hai!”