She has been with me for the past 13 ½ years and now she is dying. We have had a wonderful life together and she has been by my side most of the time, a pillar of support all these years. We got married in Feb 1997 – she was a young and dusky beauty. She was in fact of dual ethnicity - with both Indian and Japanese genes in her. She came from a family of great pedigree but was still humble and caring. She never demanded much from me and was always very satisfied with the basic requirements. I loved her from the moment I set eyes on her.
Very soon into our marriage, we suffered a setback – an accident where she was injured more than me. I carefully took care that her health was restored in full. After that initial hiccup to our married life, it was a great partnership. We traveled far and wide. She was with me in all my outstation sojourns. She was with me when we made crazy trips from Coimbatore to Erode to Ooty and back every month. I used to sing for her and she used to like it because my 'out of sync' tunes could not be properly heard when traveling at 70 kms/hr.
She was with me throughout my trips across Chennai. We explored many areas in and around Parry's Corner, George Town, North Madras, Anna Nagar, Adayar, Perungudi, Taramani etc. By this time, I had another wife (lets call her wifey) and the 3 of us used to go to office together. While my newly wed wifey used to chatter with me, she used to be very calm and take care that we reached our respective offices and destinations safe and sound. In fact, she approved my marriage with wifey wholeheartedly. The three of us did some trips together to Vandalur Zoo and Muttukadu and though she used to accompany us, she used to leave us alone knowing that we might need the privacy. She was very smart in knowing that she had the majority of private moments with me, and hence was very accommodative to my new fiancee. I once lost her on the busy Mint street and then found her standing almost in tears in front of the Flower Bazaar Police Station. It took me a whole hour to pacify and cajole her with a promise that it would never happen again.
But very soon, my field sales days were over and she could no longer be with me on those long private journeys. She still was with me for the weekend getaways and I loved her with all my heart the same way I had loved her during our initial days of courtship.
Again, she came with me to Bangalore in 2006 and back to Chennai in 2008. By this time, she was weak and falling sick very often. The final clincher was the second accident we met with last year. We hit a buffalo at the twilight hour and both of us were severely injured. Both of us underwent surgeries and while I recovered, she started getting worse. Today, I realized the extent of those injuries and realized that she will never recover from them due to her age. She is already well past her prime and in fact is approaching an age of permanent retirement. My only regret is that I will not be able to do her last rites.
Many of you might have guessed by now who my first wife is– yes, my motorcycle - Splendor. I have called my bike as my first wife many times before and after my legal marriage with wifey (the mother of my son). Though initially it was a shock, wifey finally had to agree that my bike was my first wife, since I used to spend more time with the bike than her – after all what else do you expect from a guy in field sales? But over the past year, wifey has been saying that I have had a change of interests and my bike has become my second wife. Wifey, of course being the humble person she is, always puts herself last on the list. The first wife, according to her of late has been my office. So, it is now official – I have a harem of 3 wives, of which the second is on her deathbed.
Though I also own a car now, I have never felt that connect with it, which I felt with my bike. The short 15 km round trip to Ashok Nagar today, proved once and for all that my bike is no longer able to take the strain. With more than 1,07,500 km on her speedometer in the past 13.5 years, she deserves the retirement more than any other bike ever manufactured. Her IEV has fallen to Rs. 4000 and the mechanic says that the engine needs to be re-bored again. He is offering Rs. 6000 and I think it is a good price. After all, I cannot even get the bike insured from next year, once she completes 15 years and also would need to go to the RTO for an FC.
Considering all these, with a heavy heart I decided to pen down this Eulogy to my bike who has been my constant companion through the years and shared many of my hardships, successes, desperation, anger, frustration and ecstasy.
I am not sure if I will ever replace my bike, since I have now moved onto four wheels. But one thing is for sure, I can never forget the moments I had with it and to me always this will be ‘The Bike’.
Thank you, my Lady for all the great moments, hard work and above all the companionship you have given me! Thank you.
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