The Day Of Reckoning
LOVING IT ALL
If you love to ride your motorcycle, would you need an excuse to just ride it out? How about something known as the World Motorcycle Day? With all the different days out there for any and every Tom, Dick and Harry such as Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Lover’s Day, Chocolate Day and then there is also Yoga Day, so why should the Motorcycle fraternity be left behind?
Oh yes, we do need an excuse, and any small reason can be pretty fine to just get us out on the road. But to celebrate the passion for Motorcycling? Well let’s just pick the longest day of the year, i.e. 21st June, otherwise known as the Summer Solstice, exactly in the middle of the year, and we use that day to spend as much time as we like from dawn to dusk to be on the road.
Actually something that was relatively unknown until maybe a couple of years ago, or more than that, people or rather Motorcycle riders can interpret it in any way they feel – just sit at home and watch movies about the open road that are rode on, go out on solo trips, meet up and ride down with friends to the local watering hole, or have an official meet-up group and organize for a grand meet up and group ride. Apart from that, you could also grab hold of the nearest stick, place it between your legs and run around, making vrooming sounds. That does work out to a pretty decent cover of loving and riding a nice sports bike!!
With the advent of a large influx of new models in all bikes of different capacities, movies like Torque and Wild Hogs that revolve largely around motorcycles, the Internet that spawns out thousands of pictures, blogs, events and news stories about motorcycling and of course, lots of ready monies, the 2-wheeler phenomenon has arrived with a bang. Always a poor man’s mode of transport, and such as in my case, the most convenient way to move around as well as park on our crowded streets and by lanes, the culture as such can sometimes be a black mark in lots of peoples’ eyes! Picture the fact that on every road, at every traffic signal, there is a large cluster of motorbikes in the front, ready to jump the line at the slight instance. Untidy and unruly? Oh yes! And then there are those everyday daily labourers or wage earners. Chappals and old clothes, either a construction-type cap to escape the traffic police or maybe no helmet at all, ferrying 3 or more people or how about 2 chickens, a pillion and a gas cylinder behind? And then there are the rich spoiled brats, out on un-registered brand new top-end motorcycles, exclusively without a lid but definitely sunglasses and well-gelled hair so that the entire world will know its them, zooming in and out of traffic lanes, flashing headlights at everyone. Oh yes – the Motorcycle community can definitely be looked down upon with disdain as rowdies, trouble-makers, and unkempt irresponsible people!!
Yet it’s not always like that. And World Motorcycle Day gives us a chance to show that we too are human beings who care. A couple of years back, a group of youngsters in Hyderabad decided to celebrate, by going to spend time with the inmates of a destitute home and then by helping feed the orphaned children at another shelter. The fact that they had to ride the short distance was enough for them to enjoy their daily passion of riding on this day.
In Mangalore, last year, though it fell on a Saturday, we took the chance to organise a ‘Bikers Boot Camp’ on Sunday, the 22nd June, where riders of different clubs were invited and a 3 hour presentation was done on Road Safety Awareness, complete with educational accident videos and a brief class on the importance of First Aid. This was followed by games that highlighted both team unity as well as individual strengths.
And this year? Well, we decided to chip in our bit for the month-long ‘Mangalore For No Honking’ campaign. After the meet up, a city rally was carried out in near-perfect formation to the outskirts of the city where stickers were distributed to motorists, especially bus drivers, auto-rickshaws and private taxis who were educated on the whys of this campaign. After a quick beach trip, the entire pack rode back to a pre-assigned venue near the public park, where Officials and volunteers from the Forest Department and a local Green NGO were at hand, waiting for us to help them kick start this season of saplings planting.
And before anyone is quick to ask ‘Why only on one day of the year?’ we spread out our activities whenever our clubs and team members are free and ready. It could be once a month, on Independence Day or on Christmas, but it is definitely a good feeling to give back to society what we can and to those unfortunate people who don’t have much. And this time, this was World Motorcycle Day for us!!!
Recommended for you
