Happy 14th Birthday to ..

... my bike. Yeah, 14 years ago, it was on this 19th day of June that I bought my bike.

I can still remember the excitement I felt when I brought her home. My first big-ticket
purchase - cost me Rs.37,100.

I can remember how impressed I was with the noise-less & fume-less Japanese 4-stroke
engine, which was so different from the noisy and smoke-spewing 2-stroke bikes. I would
kick-start the bike and listen to the rythm of the engine - like listening to a heartbeat.

It did not matter that I was paying 1/3rd of my salary as the monthly payment to my organisation who had funded the purchase with an interest-free loan. It has been with
me in times of joy, sadness, anger and never ever left me stranded. In all these 14 years,
it has never ever broken down.

And guess what even today, it starts at the first kick-start. Even when I return after
a long absence on business or vacation. Japanese engineering is just awesome. And all
this with negligible maintenance. Just an engine oil-change every 3000kms and an odd
service every year or so.

For months, I would not let anyone ride it. Had to deny close friends and even the M.D.
of our organisation. Heck, he funded it and I said no to him. But I knew he was aware of
my attachement and was just asking in jest.

And then the very first time I lend it to a friend, he crashes my bike. I reach the accident
spot, see my bike lying there, the indicator light still blinking. I did not even notice my
close friend, who was lying in a pool of blood, his jaw-bone broken. Both wheel rims are
bent, the headlight assembly is smashed and the frontfork (suspension) is damaged by
the impact at high speed. Still the bike started at the first kick. After taking my friend to hospital, I return the next day and take my bike home. Was so depressed. Got it repaired,
but the pain never left me. Over time it did soften up a bit.

Today, guys change bikes every 2-3 years or earlier. My friend who bought his first bike
around the same time, is now onto his 3rd bike. Old colleagues are surprised to see me
using the same bike that they had seen me using a decade ago, and advice me to exchange
it for a new one.

Heck, the last time I went to get a puncture fixed, the old guy at the shop was indignant
that I was using such an old bike. His words were, "Sir, give away this bike and get a new
one. It is so easy to buy a bike today with various easy installment schemes."

But, how do I give away something that over the years has become a part of me ?
15 years is the government decided life of bikes/cars and the road-tax we pay on buying
a new vehicle is valid only for 15 years. Next year it will be 15 years old and I will have to
get it Fitness-Certified and pay fresh taxes for the next 5 years.

If things go to plan, I will give her a new lease of life next year before the Fitness test -
change all her worn-out parts, give her a new coat of paint and make her spanking new
again. I owe it to her for her steadfast companionship & reliability over the last 14 years.

Love you, girl.

P.S. : Apart from me, there is only 1 other admirer of the bike. Its my son, who when he
comes to Chennai can't have enough of sitting on it and repeating, "Pappa-de bike", as if
it were a Suzuki Hayabusa. :-)