A NEW AVATAR

 I reproduce an excerpt from my book ‘I am just An Ordinary Man’ where I talk about my association or rather the relationship I shared with my motorbike. Later, when I read Pirzig’s ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ I could fully relate to what I shared with it. It had become a member of the family so much so that my daughters also shared the same feeling. Today when I read my younger daughter’s what I would call A Motorcycle Diary did I fully realize the impact it had on her growing up. I thought that I should share this on my blog because it sensitively recreates those years and the reality of the present. It was all the more amazing that she wrote it all, sitting in the showroom waiting to take delivery of what she calls the new Avatar, a memory reborn.

‘My longest association has been with my motorcycle which was with me for nearly twenty-two years. It was a year older than my elder daughter, so she did travel in my wife’s arms on the pillion till she was old enough to sit between us. That went on for five years till my second daughter was born. After this, my wife had to manage with the elder one sitting between us and the younger one in her arms. This carried on till the younger one was old enough to sit on the petrol tank. We made a pretty picture, the four of us. This went on till my younger daughter’s hair grew long enough to obscure my vision as I rode the bike.’

 

A MOTORCYCLE DIARY

A few years ago, when my partner was eyeing an old revived classic bike with mixed emotions, I promised, if Yezdi ever comes back, we are getting one. I have seen him pining, even as he calls it an unnecessary indulgence and an encroachment of space in our lifestyles. 

Both our dads had Yezdis and my loyalty to it was cemented since the time I was tiny enough to fit on the petrol tank and pretend I was the one in control. That was my space, my place, and no kid ever came close to taking that away from me. 

As I sat and watched my dad tinkering away on the motorcycle, explaining spark plugs and engine parts and exhaust, to a six-year-old me, I dreamt of a day when I could be big, strong, and smart as dad and drive and care for a monstrous motorcycle. But more than my grandiose daydreams, my love for the thing was born out of a feeling of being protected and a feeling of home. 

For a little girl anxious to get away from the maddening crowd, there are no sweeter words of comfort than "your dad is here to take you home".

In a world before smartphones and GPS tracking, there is no sweeter sound than the dhub dhub dhub of his steed that lets you know he is just a mile away. 

But the absolute ace was the feeling beneath your feet that accompanied the sound. The reverberating drum that calmed your racing mind with the promise of home. 

Silent tears were shed behind closed doors when my dad decided to sell the old boy after all those years, making way for changing lifestyles. Today, when the legend is back home in a new avatar, there will be tears, but no one will talk about it. I may not be the anxious kid, I once was but I still have no chill or the muscle tone required to ride the monstrous motorcycle. I am not tiny anymore to sit on the petrol tank, but I still have my memories of comfort and security.