My Iron Colt

I still remember saying this when I was in my 10th standard - "Dad, if I'm ever gonna straddle a machine, it has to be this one". Dad said "No way. I'm not buying my son his ticket to hell".

It was my first trip to M/s Madras Motors. The showroom aint there anymore. Shame. But that's where I first set my eyes and my heart on a gleaming machine I had dreams of riding. People interested in bikes and local Bangaloreans (I still prefer the old name) reading this blog will have, by now, very well understood what I'm talking about. More specifically, which machine too. For the less interested, well, it's just a motorcycle for you all.

It was the year when they released, what was at that time, India's one and only cruiser from India's oldest motorcycle manufacturer, Royal Enfield. They had named it Thunderbird. I can never explain why, but this particular name just hit me. Period.

At a time when the Yamahas and the Suzukis ruled the roost, what with all teenagers legally old enough to ride one were buying one, I was going back in time and drooling over a bike which was generations behind in terms of technology and style. Except for a change in transmission and a new design, this bike had nothing new. Oh, I forgot the new aluminum engine. Sorry. But ask die hard RE lovers what pulls them to their machines and keeps them there, you'll get one answer in common. Legacy. So, yes, you can call me old school.

So here I was, dreaming and dreaming and dreaming, and then dreaming some more hoping of laying my hands on one of those machines at least stepping into college. But no, not yet. God, how long was this wait gonna continue? Two years rolled by and I was still nurturing my one cherished dream. I was done with pre-university college, without my bike. Quite a feat considering most of my peers were zipping around with one of their speed machines. Well, what could I've done? I just believed that all good things take time, a lot actually, coming. I was quite surprised at my own patience levels. I've never waited that long for anything to materialize, not if it's possible much earlier.

Cut back to 2004. My second year in engineering. And yes, you guessed it, still no bike. I know of many people who still don't have a private vehicle but I'm not concerned about them. I wanted the bike. And I had waited for it for what seemed like all my life.

Miracles happen in life. Yes they do.

20th of November, 2004

It had all begun a couple of days earlier. Dad was coming home mysteriously early, I mean really early. So much so, I was growing a bit suspicious. I mean, a week before he used to grumble at the tiring hours he had to put in in the new private firm he had joined. I knew the kind of hours he was putting in and I knew it simply wasn't normal for him to be home at the time I was seeing him for the last couple of days. So I go ahead and ask him if there is something that I need to know so that I too could be a part of it, if it needed my help. Dad's answer kinda fueled my intuition. He said there was nothing that I could help with but I would be a big part of the end result. Added to that, Mom wanted to me to go with my friends and check out the new bikes out in the market. That was a dead giveaway. I told her that I don't wanna do that because everyone knew what I wanted.

Another 48 hours of no action.

D-DAY

I still remember time, 6:45 PM. I am home, exhausted from riding the over-crowded college bus. I find my sister and ask her about Mom's whereabouts. She has no idea. I turn on the TV and tune into Cartoon Network (I still watch cartoons, btw).

7:00 PM

I can tell my dad's bike from the peculiar honking sound that only his bike has. It's about time that I should've heard him honking outside the gate, back from work. Then I hear a rather loud horn outside but don't pay attention. But this really loud honking continues for a couple of more times before I realize that someone was in front of our gate, honking.

Trust me, for all that I knew, I never expected that Dad would be rolling in with a new bike that evening, much less with the one I had longed for.

So I go downstairs, open the door and WHAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Standing outside in all its royal splendour is the one thing I had coveted so long. A black Royal Enfield Thunderbird, thumping. The sound was unmistakable. I stood there shaking in disbelief. After a full 15 mins of looking at it, I still couldn't believe it was for real. I admit that my vocabulary is way too limited to put in words the feeling I had when man and machine met for the first time. I thanked Dad profusely, words coming out in sputters, like from an infant learning to talk. Man, what an evening!!!!!!

I spent all evening showing off my proud possession to most of my friends. Some were genuinely happy, some weren't. But I couldn't care less that day. It took me an entire month for the feeling to really settle in.

From that point forward, every day that I've swung my leg over the bike, it has been nothing but sheer pleasure. It always feels like I am doing it for the first time. The nostalgia simply won't go away. Such is the effect that brand of motorcycles has had, and will always have, on its ardent fans.

I lovingly rode my bike for a good 4 years. Destiny had other plans cooking in the mean time.

Present Day - 4th of Jan, 2009

It's 4 days short of an year since I landed in the US of A. I flew to the US to pursue my Masters Degree.

It's been almost an year since I've had a chance to ride my bike again. Too long a time gap, I must say. I simply can't wait to go back home this summer.

I've had a lot of memorable rides on my 'Bird. I simply hope that I have much more when I return.