Riding a bike in a city is difficult. Certainly difficult if you drive in a place like Pune. If Beijing were the world capital for bicycles, then Pune is definitely the two wheeler capital on the face of this planet. Scores of new commuters hit the road everyday. A guy on way to his first job. A girl riding a dear gift from her father. An old man riding a moped older than him. A lady turning left when the right indicator is blinking. You get all kinds of people on the roads. There is no escape!
They say that if you can drive in Pune, you can drive anywhere in the world and hell am I ready to take that challenge! Been riding here for over six years now. First it was my bicycle to high school, then a moped to college and now I take my bike to work.
From the moment I put on my helmet, my jacket, my sunglasses and look into the mirror to make sure I look just as cool, its a different me on the bike. As the engine revs up and the wheels start rolling, I get the need... the need for speed. Cutting my way through the traffic, cursing the slow morons who cant even touch forty, I open the throttle and zoom ahead. I know there is no hurry. But its just unstoppable. The adrenaline rush that you get while cruising at dangerous speeds just cant be put into words. I guess you have to feel it. Sometimes I feel that my alter ego rides the bike, not me! And becomes all that I most certainly am not. Rough on roads and tough on people who want to get into a verbal fight, switching lanes and jumping signals with most insincere regards to traffic rules. But the most important thing is that it makes me feel free and in total control. That's what bikes signify, Freedom.
Sure such rash driving does not get away unpunished. I had a nasty fall once. It left its bruises on my bike, though I was lucky to get away with few days of limping. That stalled my pace and shook my confidence for a while. But the scars healed and so ebbed the fear. Now its back to insane driving on the streets. A small mistake could cost me dear.
Have there been any close calls you ask? Plenty. One in particular was when I got trapped between a truck on my right and a bus on my left. Both closing in on me from both sides. It scared the hell out of me. I was almost between the tyres of the truck. But I made it unscathed. Few others would be risking a fall on slippery roads during heavy rains, avoiding slamming myself into the rear of a tuk-tuk, missing a stupid pedestrian by an inch, had he been a second slower, he would have met the inevitable. The list would go on...
I am not a bad driver, nor is my driving a threat to anyone on the road but myself.In fact, I must be really good to have it made this far. I know a helmet does not make me immortal. But I like to take my chances. I still have a lot at stake, should I continue with this freak quest for more adrenaline pumping. And even after all the close calls why do I still continue to ride at dangerous speeds? I guess the thrill of surviving is simply addictive.
