So they say four wheels move the body and two wheels move the soul. However, what if while feeding some two-wheeled soup to your soul, an experience on the road makes that very invisible part inside want to curse you for giving it an escape route out of your body? What do you do when you find yourself and your machine in a ‘what the duck’ situation, even when you do everything by the book?
The naked truth is, we live in a country where traffic rules are followed just because we don’t wish to be caught by a whistle equipped saint, who is waiting for his next prey to jump a red light and make a compulsory donation to his weekend alcohol fund. If we had our way, we’d equip our driving machines with howitzers and blow up everything that stands in our way and dictates rules.
Now, unless you have been foolish enough to spend more and buy a car with airbags and such other stupid safety features, you might feel safe while being enclosed in a tin-box which has failed all the safety tests and comes devoid of juvenile equipment like balloons which inflate on impact to keep the child inside the car happy. Equipment which people think we Indians don’t need, as they now equip our cars with a specially designed dashboard which has space for our gods and who we must hope are kind to us. However, there is still no such provision for motorcycles and if you are astride one in India, your only option is to live on your prayers.
So what are these situations we think could put your heart and peanuts in your mouth?
Instance #1: Red after dark is Green
Let’s begin with a dilemma, where breaking the law does actually come across as the sensible thing to do. Although debatable, ignoring a red light might actually save your life sometimes. Imagine its late in the night and the traffic is sparse. Taking inspiration from a TV show, hosted by an actor who wants us to be better citizens, you come across a red light and although there is no one in sight, instead of thinking red as green, you stop. However, there could be someone behind you, to whom motorcycles on the road are invisible and traffic signals in the night are like fancy street furniture. As you glance in your RVM, that someone starts to approach at an alarming speed and before you could curse yourself for being nice in a world so bent, that man hits your motorcycle, tosses you several feet high up and on your way back down, you see your soul depart to go see the ‘Mangalyaan’. There must’ve been someone who has lived this situation and if still alive, might agree that not following the rule that night could’ve saved him of the injuries he now lives with. Although it would be a better idea to stay on the extreme left in such situations, you might come across a similar red light one night, what would you do then?
Instance #2: Animal Planet
We are an animal loving country, explains why we hardly witness any PETA protests, not even the ones where people are dressed. Explains why animals on our roads are as common a sight as are gun wielding hooligans in our neighbouring nations. Cows are sacred, so people are scared to shoo them away from the road; in fact, some think that their journey will now be uneventful since they came across one. However, these thoughts wouldn’t be shared by that bloke who is following a large bus on a motorcycle, when the bus driver does nothing to slow down, takes the other lane, misses the cow and leaves the ‘Moowtorcyclist’ to deal with it. Although a good rider will always keep a safe distance from tall, large vehicles which obstruct the view ahead.
A dog is a man’s best friend, but the friendship suddenly comes apart when a human is astride a bike. If stray dogs had their way, they would take a protest right till the Parliament, asking for all the roads in this country to be declared as their ancestral property. Their agitation has gained some real momentum these days, as they are now found across some tracks in India too. Similarly, goats, sheep, chickens and a variety of such animals decorate our roads and lurk in the bushes until they see an approaching biker and decide to test his safety gear. Think you have developed some skills over the years to dodge such creatures on the road, please do share it with us.
Thanks Sundara,
We loved how you drew that parallel just as much 🙂
Well well well!! Karan, there’s a Chandler Bing in you. Loved the tone.
Being an indian rider, we have automatically become an expert in maneuvering through animals, oncoming buses or cars, paving a zig zag route through the potholes and what not. But the only thing I hate is even when we tend to find a new road which has not yet been potholed or is still so plain.. is why the hell having gravels or pebbles on it? There’s almost no road where you can corner totally confidently that the road will be just as you imagined. Hundreds of time, I take a leap, charge into a corner, and then suddenly got to make the bike straight and control my speed in order to not risk losing traction, adhering to the presence lf gravels again on the remaining part of the curve. I had a wrist breaking accident once when i was in 11th with my first year of my own bike, and since then, i take extra caution on the great Indian corners. But the plus side is, with my recent bike, I have eventually learned to powerslide on the gravel areas and that is even more fun! 😀 But that’s a jugaad and spoils my tyres., Theres no repalcement to a clean sexy curvy road
Hi Raj,
How we totally relate to that situation where you travel hundreds of meters, with only your instincts as the guiding force. Ride safe, keep writing, its good to hear from you 🙂
Karan – the first and the last incident are really haggling. I wear glasses and that makes the high beam problem even more perilous. I have lost count of the number of times I have crossed hundreds of meters of road on nothing but pure instinct to guide me through. I recently upgraded to a KTM RC 390 but still fear riding anywhere above 80kmph after nightfall. And yes you put it rightly my friend, the situation will not improve till people start following traffic rules dilligently. Till then, us bikers are left on our own wits to survive.