Z's back to cruising the streets

Well every bad thing that happens has a positive side to it. All you've got to do is find that good thing. After the Swift met with an accident I was sad, to say the least. Distraught, but the ray of red sunshine got a twinkle in my eye. The poor beast had been parked there for months and so a couple of days ago, I decided it take it to town.

I was leaving for work and had climbed down as usual, backpack on my back and umbrella in my hand. As I walked past that red feline creature, something came over me, so I put the umbrella down and put the key in the ignition, got astride and pushed the electric start button. No pulse. The battery was dead from several months of neglect.

So I pulled out the kick lever, pushed the choke down and started to kick; first a few hard kicks, then more feverishly and finally desperately. I had broken into a good sweat by now. Having broken into sweat, there was no turning back. So I took a couple of minutes and started pumping the kick start and then giving it a good kick. After several efforts, my Karizma burst to life. A good twist on the accelerator and that warm rumbling sound of the beast got me excited. I revved the engine for several minutes and then immediately turned off the ignition, jumped off my bike, grabbed my umbrella and ran up the stairs in twos opened my front door, dumped the umbrella grabbed my helmet and gloves, told my wife I was biking it to office ran back down the stairs got it started and off I rode.

Yeah I was holding my breath the entire time I typed that last bit. So you can guess how excited I was when I actually was riding my bike. I knew I had to fill gas as the electronic fuel indicator was blinking on the last point. My bike was in reserve. So I made a quick pit stop at the BP petrol pump where I normally fill fuel in the SWIFT, topped up the tank with Speed, got air in the tyres and finally got on my way to office. The ride was the smoothest I had experienced in a long time and before I knew it, I was parking my bike out the office. A quick glance at my watch and the time was 9:10 AM. Wow! That has got to be the fastest I’ve ever made it from home to office. I left home at 8:40 AM, made a fuel stop and yet reached by 9:10 AM. Well I didn’t catch a single red light on the 10 KM ride and neither did I ride over 60 kmph. So I guess that’s how long it actually takes. My normal drive to work on an average on the same route is anything between 40 minutes to an hour.

Well over the next two days, I just had the most awesome time making that to-and-fro journey. And then last night was the best. I had pulled to a stop at the Parama Island Round About. I was coming down the Park Circus Connector this was the point it meets with the E.M. Bypass with the ITC Sonar on my left and Science City Auditorium to my right. Anyway I was the first bike at the stop line and parked a bit behind the line beside a taxi and another car on the extreme left lane. Well the reason I avoid being the first one at the line is because, though I have all my bike papers in order, they have no use in Kolkata. My bike carries a Delhi registration.

Anyway as I looked at the two cops, a sergeant next to his bike and one of his flunkies with a walkie-talkie looking around, I knew I had made the biggest mistake. I kept looking at the signal lights and the countdown clock. Gosh a whole minute and a half before the light would turn green. Just then the flunky started walking towards me. I ignored him and held my breath as he walked past. I noticed in my rear view mirror that he had gone up to a mini goods carrier van. Yeah, they’re always easy targets for making a quick buck. Anyway I kept observing him as he stood next to the window of the van talking to the driver. Meanwhile a biker crossed me on the left and pulled up ahead of me and stopped. He had this half helmet on. Like a skull cap. I looked at the light again and noticed it was still going to be a while before it turned green. Then I saw the flunky walking back. I kept looking in the mirror to see if he was looking at my bike and luckily for me he walked past and caught the biker in front of me. From what I observed having failed to make anything from the van guy he thought he might try his luck with the biker. He asked the biker if he had a licence and the biker immediately went for his back pocket. Sensing that the licence ploy would come back negative in his money making scheme, he waved at him that it was ok, but then pointed out to him that the helmet he was wearing was not legal. Well I could understand all this from 10 feet away. But then noticing that the signal would go green any moment, he let the biker off.

Just then the light went green; I put my bike into gear and rode off, thanking my lucky stars. I reached home after riding in that beautiful cool monsoon evening wind knowing that from tomorrow I would be back with the SWIFT.