Brotherhood of Biking - Introducing IBR

Biking, they say, is a passion; a passion that has grown manifolds in the last few years or so in India. To put it in a common man’s language, it is indeed just another passion.

But then, there exist a set of people for whom biking is not just a passion but a way of life. For these biking enthusiasts, it is not just about riding a motorcycle and travelling to exotic locations, but about exploring one’s own self and finding yourself in the middle of nowhere while riding your motorcycle. It is the sheer joy and pleasure of getting to spend a few quality moments with your buddies, along with the inexpressible feeling of being closer to Mother Nature that drives and defines these so common yet so unique individuals.

India Bull Riders, popularly known as IBR, is a hub of such biking enthusiasts who have not just been covering the lengths and breadths of our country for many years now on their Royal Enfield bikes but have also broken the geographical barrier to go beyond the borders and explore the picturesque locales of Nepal and Bhutan.

Founded in the year 2007 by Sajeesh Nair, IBR had grown from just a city specific club to a national biking community within a very short span of time with its chapters spread all across India in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Udaipur. A man with a composed head and an immaculate vision, Mr. Nair revolutionised the concept of a motorcycle club in India by breaking the geographical barriers to make IBR India’s first national motorcycle club with multiple regional chapters. “The vision behind founding IBR was to build the world’s largest Royal Enfield Motorcycle Club. The idea was to promote group and sane riding, and forming IBR was the first stepping stone in that direction. Through IBR, I intended to give the passionate riders a common platform to take on the most treacherous of routes across the globe without any fear or second thoughts. And today, I am glad to see my dream coming true in the form of the ever-growing IBR family.”, reveals Sajeesh.

Now, we keep using the word ‘biker’ a lot without actually bothering to know who a biker really is. Does biker mean anybody who rides a motorcycle? Let us hear it from the co-admin of IBR himself, Robbie Ghosh. “There are two types of motorcyclists in the world - one who use it as a means of daily commuting and the other who wants to feel the wind against their faces while cruising at 100 kmph on a highway. A ‘biker’ falls in the latter. The passion of biking amongst the youth has grown drastically in the last decade. Previously, there was a stigma attached to motorcycling considering its safety. But nowadays, with the easy availability of so many protective gears for the riders to escape from minor accidents, the passion is really gaining momentum. Moreover, a motorcycle also gives you the unique flexibility to visit places which are otherwise either inaccessible or quite painful to reach at.”

And that’s not all. “For many decades now, biking has been portrayed as a sign of freedom – the freedom of movement, the freedom of meeting new people on the road, the freedom of being on your own, the freedom of traversing to places which we have witnessed only on television or fancy travel magazines. In a nutshell, biking is a trust between the rider and his/her machine. And it is this unquenchable pursuit of exploring new places and feeling the wind on your face instead of sitting in front of a laptop in an air-conditioned room is what makes a person a ‘biker’.”, sums up Robbie.

So does that mean that these so-called bikers do nothing but just ride their motorcycles? The answer is a big ‘NO’. When being asked that what do they do when they are not aboard their mean machines, we were amazed to find out that they are as normal a human being as we are. They go to office, drop their kids to school, take their wives/girlfriends to movies and dinner, take care of their parents, get scolded by their bosses, get stuck in the traffic and so on and so forth.

Make no mistake, they are no rebels or social outlaws but very normal people that we meet in our day-to-day life. Take out those heavy duty jackets and protective armours and they would very easily pass off as ordinary people. In fact, the next time you go out for a movie or a dine-out, the person sitting next to you might just be one of the many hundred IBRians across the country, dressed pretty casually and sitting quietly, minding their own business.

But what makes them stand out from the crowd is the fact that they all have a heart of gold, a clear conscience, the courage to speak their minds and the confidence and self-belief to do what they like. While they may not flaunt it too much but these guys have been continuously doing their bit to uplift their surroundings and the society as a whole to make this world a better place to live in.

So whether it is providing groceries and medicines to those homeless elderlies and listening to their stories in an old-age home or spending a day with the little souls in an orphanage or distributing clothes and quilts to the needy across their respective cities, IBR Community Service ensures that they stay connected to their roots while giving something back to the society within their own limits.

As I stand to conclude this article here, let me remind you once again that for an IBRian, biking is not just a passion but a way of life; for them, it is not just about the destination but the journey itself that matters. And while you will be reading this article from the comfort of your home sipping a cup of hot tea or coffee, these biking enthusiasts will probably already be aboard their beloved machines, riding to yet another serene and picturesque location, in their quest to pursue the never-ending journey of self-exploration.

Respect People's Lives, Respect Humanity - A Plea to All

This morning, the day started off as usual for me. I was late as usual, was hurrying to reach office in the nick of time as usual. But what was not usual was a car standing in the middle of a road at a turn in front of a temple. I stopped behind the car and saw some commotion in front of the car. Some small girls of around 7-8 years of age were crying, trying to push and beat a guy in a cycle aged around 10-11 years and he was trying to escape.

I was waiting for the commotion to clear as I felt they were having some minor fight over something as it's Tuesday and people generally give them stuff to eat and all. But when I saw that a small girl of around 6 years was dragged to the divider by the other girls, I was horrified! The little child was bleeding from the head and was fainting. The people inside the car that was ahead of me were just sitting inside the car and watching.

The moment the car passed by, I parked my bike in the middle of the road to stop the traffic and help the girl. Some morons were honking and trying to find a way past the bleeding girl but I could hardly care any less. I lifted the girl from the divider and took her to the side of the road. I then asked other people standing over there and watching the 'drama' to stop an auto. An auto driver carrying a girl eventually stopped to help. I took the little girl to the auto and made her sit comfortably. Another small girl who knew the bleeding girl accompanied her in the auto.

I took the little girl to the nearest hospital in B-10 market, Vasant Kunj (called Apollo Pharmacy). The girl who was originally in the auto was very supportive and she got down midway so that the little girl could be taken to the hospital in the auto itself. The auto driver was also very supportive as he ensured that the girl was safely dropped to the hospital and left without taking any money.

Couple of nurses immediately rushed to me when they saw me carrying a bleeding girl. They attended to the girl, made her feel comfortable and a Doctor came in. The Dcotor assured me that there is nothing to worry about and that the little girl is fine. They bandaged the girl, gave her some painkiller and asked the other girl who was accompanying the bleeding girl to ask her parents to come over to the hospital once for further medication. They thanked me for bringing the girl to the hospital and then released her so that she could go home or else her parents will panic.

I, then, once again arranged an auto to take them home which was nearby. A biker who was present in the spot of the accident had originally left the spot but came back to ensure if the girl is fine or not. He offered to pay for the medical expenses and the auto fares and said sorry to me for leaving earlier as he was getting 'late' for something. I thanked him for his concern and offering to pay for the expenses. I finally dropped the girl home.

I'm still shocked and horrified at people's response this morning. It literally shook the ground beneath me and thrown me back to reality. People have become so heartless and materialistic today that they have absolutely no respect for others' lives and humanity in general. People nowadays prefer to watch another human being bleeding on the road from the comfort of their luxurious cars instead of lending a helping hand.

Today's incident makes me wonder - What fantasy world I'm living in? It could have been me on the road bleeding to death. Many people might not have helped the little girl because she was from a nearby slum; she was not wearing those fancy, expensive designer wears but was coated with sand and soil from the road, with blood on her clothes and touching her would have made their neatly pressed clothes dirty.

Are your clothes more important than a person's life? I can bet my life on it - IT IS NOT!!

I humbly plead to one and all that please do not be so heartless in life. Value a person's life; it is much more priceless than anything else in this universe. Please do not be like that biker who came at the end to offer money. Your money may not be sufficient to save a person's life but your couple of minutes at the right moment could be.

Kindly spare a moment to think over my plea; it could make a big difference in somebody's life and help them live a priceless life!!

‘Cellphonic’ Nightmare!!

Ever caught a certain Shah Rukh Khan delivering a dialogue which goes like: Meri movie mein aapke dialogues? Mazaa nahin aata. (Words in italics: Your dialogues in my movies? Doesn’t feel good.)


Well, if you must know, this is a much-needed initiative by one of the leading telecom companies of India to prohibit the use of cellphones in a movie theatre.


This couple of minutes' ad is an attempt to counter the frustrating irritation and disgust caused by the sudden outburst of a path-breaking invention, we call the cellphone! It is an attempt to avail a pleasurable and gratifying cinematic experience for a normal moviegoer like me.


But alas! Even SRK couldn’t work his magic this time around, so hell-bent are people these days on using the cellphone inside the movie theatre!!


I went to watch INCEPTION the other day at a nearby theatre. I purposely opted for a late-night show ‘coz the crowd’s relatively less for a late-night show on a weekday and INCEPTION is the kind of movie which requires your undivided attention, throughout. One missed moment or dialogue, and you would have to sit through the remaining part of the movie wondering what the hell is happening and why!! This is also the reason why I didn’t even ask anyone for company. I wanted to enjoy a quality movie without any sort of disturbance or diversion, whatsoever.


But, you see, there’s also something called ‘luck’, which was clearly not on my side that day. I had taken an aisle seat so that atleast one of my ears is spared from torture if I had to sit next to some chatterbox. But, as luck would have it, I was destined to be doomed that day. As I was getting comfortable in my seat, there’s this young couple who came and sat next to me. I immediately prayed to God to kindly keep the couple quiet but He obviously didn’t oblige my prayer. I guess God had went to bed by then (it was late night, you see).


After some 45-minutes or so into the movie (when I was trying hard to grasp the on-goings of the movie), I was startled by the unusually high-pitched ring tone of a cellphone. I was just about to curse when I realised that it’s the girl sitting next to me. She immediately answered the phone and I thanked God for that as I didn’t have to bear the horrifyingly irritating ring tone for long. But I guess I thanked Him way too soon ‘coz the worst was yet to come!


I looked at my watch. It was 12 midnight and guess what, it’s the girl’s birthday that day. Wow!! Calls started pouring-in in a frenzy and the people on the other end of the line seem to be way happier than the birthday girl herself as they were literally yelling on the phone. Let alone the constant ‘Thank you, thank you so much!’ by the girl, I can even hear what the person at the other end is saying over the phone. And trust me, I’m NOT exaggerating at all.


After some 20-minutes of frantic calls (which had already screwed my hopes of watching a trouble-free movie), another show started in the theatre. Or should I say the seat next to me? The couple started coochie-cooing with each other. Are you kidding me? I mean you go to a theatre to watch a serious movie like INCEPTION and all you do is watch a couple performing some cheap ‘whatever’ stuff right next to you! Come on guys, give me a break and go get yourself a room.


I cleared my throat in a relatively louder manner to make them realise that there are other people sitting along with them and that they are NOT the only creatures inside that dark room known as the movie-theatre. They got the hint and stopped their ‘activity’; but not for long. Soon after they started ‘yelling’ sweet nothings into each other’s ears, which lasted till the end of the movie, along with the occasional but never-ending beep of her cellphone, making it a completely nightmarish experience for me.


If you, too, had a similar experience while watching a movie, share it with me. Guess, we’ll have lot to talk (read curse) about ;-)

A ‘Victim’ of INCEPTION

Rarely does a movie come along which bothers to infiltrate the human psyche like the way Inception did. Having been fortunate enough to witness the realms of a dream getting shattered away, I can't stop craving about this master-class called Inception.


I mean, come on, having an idea is one thing but to execute it into a 3-hour film is a completely different ball-game altogether. Inception not only manages to jostle the far ends of the human brain but also compels us to sit back, take notice and admire the sheer genius of one Mr Christopher Nolan.


What a man, and a director, and a writer, and a producer (what not?), Chris Nolan is. With a highly enviable list of movies behind him, he has once again come up with a film which defies the normal mind. What else can you expect from a man who has given the world films like The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige and Batman Begins? With his latest venture, Inception, Chris has managed to take that elusive 'leap of faith' and catapulted the art of film-making to a different level.


To be honest, the first 15-20 minutes of the movie went over my head (I'm sure a million others would also agree with me on this). I was struggling to get in terms of the movie for the initial part, thanks largely to the young couple sitting next to me who were 'yelling' sweet nothings into each-other's ears. But, then, as the movie slowly begins to unfold itself, I could not help but fall back comfortably on the many layers of dreams, so masterfully crafted by Nolan.


The very concept of Inception is unique, and repulsive to the mind. When I first heard what the movie is all about, I was like, "WTF!! How can it be possible? Or rather, IS IT possible?" For those who have been unfortunate enough to not have the chance to watch Inception yet, it is a movie which deals with the subconscious state of the mind – a state when the mind is most vulnerable and can be used as a potent weapon.


Dom Cobb (brilliantly played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a master at stealing ideas from a person's mind by hurling him into a web of dreams. This is his profession, one which has made him an international fugitive, and one which he has got fed-up of as it keeps him away from his kids. Rescue comes in the form of a wealthy Japanese client, Mr Saito, who offers him a final chance at redemption. But, for that, he must do the unthinkable – Inception. He will have to plant an idea into Saito's biggest rival's mind instead of extracting one. How he goes about executing the toughest job of his life till date forms the rest of the story.


Leonardo DiCaprio has yet again proved that he's one of the very best that Hollywood has to offer. He's supremely talented, devastatingly handsome, sufficiently bankable and gets into the very skin of the character that he portrays. What more can a director, or a producer, asks for? Many people argue that he was pretty uptight and grim like he was in his previous movie, Shutter Island. Agreed, but that is what the role demanded him to be, isn't it? It’s NOT his fault.


Marion Cotillard, who portrays the character, or should I say projection, of Mal in the movie, was as refreshing and brilliant as ever. Her dreamy eyes (sigh!) and unsettling facial expressions brings in the much needed emotional touch to the story in an otherwise intense movie which shuffles between dreams and reality as frequently as we, probably, breathe.


The other actors also played their characters with sufficient élan. Ellen Page, as the young architect Ariadne, justified her role, and so did Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Arthur, Cobb's partner-in-crime. A special mention of the 'totems' is a must here as they are the only means which prevent you from getting lost in a galaxy of multi-layered dreams and megalomaniac visuals.


Inception could have done slightly better with its pace but, all in all, a brilliant thriller which provokes your thinking hormones and forces you to concentrate even during the silent scenes. You simply cannot afford to miss even a single second of the movie or else you'd be asking exactly the same question as a clueless Ariadne asks in one of the sequences, "Excuse me, can anyone tell me whose dream are we in?"


As I walk out of the theatre after 2 & ½ hours of intense concentration, only one question lingers in my mind – what would be Christopher Nolan's next movie about? The answer is pretty simple – Keep Guessing!! Right, Chris?

Morning Thump Raga Ride

They say sound travels slower than light. But, as there are exceptions to everything in this world, yesterday (9 May, 2010) was also such an exception.


You know you are IN for something GRAND (both to the eyes as well as to the ears) when the usually peaceful, quiet mornings of Delhi are rattled by the thunder of a bunch of REs and BAs. Yes, you guessed it right – the DELHI BULL RIDERS (now INDIA BULL RIDERS) have hit the road and you better step aside coz they are on their way to burn the roads of Delhi.


On the 9th of May, 2010, 31 Deburids gathered at India Gate to start the first official breakfast ride in DBR history. The occasion is to celebrate 300+ members in our DBR family and the destination was Badkhal Lake Resort. Everybody finally assembled at around 5:40am and we pushed off from India Gate at 5:55am.


From there, we straightaway head to the Mehrauli-Badarpur road via South-Ex and GK and then took the Surajkund-Badkhal road. It was simply fabulous to watch all the bulls riding in formation. We, then, crossed Badkhal and went ahead to enjoy a hilly-ride in the Faridabad-Gurgaon road (Shooting Range).


While riding on that road, our very own Chhota Khilery (mind you he's NOT chhota at all) got a little angry (maybe he was getting hungry) for we had crossed Badkhal Lake Resort and went some 25kms ahead. While coming back, our new member Gibson got his C500 punctured. So, Sajeesh, Usha, Robbie, Gaurav, and yours truly, stopped over with him to get his puncture repaired. Robbie worked more than the puncture guy himself to get Gibson’s bike ready again. We had 7UPs over there while waiting for Gibson’s bike to get repaired. Then we rode back to Badkhal Lake Resort. On the way back, I survived a major (read fatal) accident (which nobody knows about yet) and had just a small brush-off with a truck. Thank GOD for that.


Once on the resort, we all parked our bikes in line and straightaway head to the swimming pool. By the time we had reached the pool, Vivek sir had already made himself comfortable in the swimming pool. Then one-by-one almost everyone joined him in the pool (some by themselves and some were forced into the pool by whom else but our Chhota Khilery). A few others like me, Raman, CP etc were spared the assault though Chhota Khilery tried his best to get us into the pool, too.


A special mention of Rohit is required here who wore and then took-off his swimming glares some 5-7 times and still didn’t jump in the swimming pool before he was forced into the pool by none other than Chhota Khilery. Mr Khilery, when found nobody else to force into the pool, jumped-in himself with all his clothes on!!! The management, obviously, had some issues with us jumping in the pool with our clothes on and when they complained about it, Chhota Khilery called his ‘bhai’, again, to rescue him out of this situation. As usual, his ‘bhai’ helped him and he was granted permission to jump into the pool with all his clothes on. Finally, he was very happy coz he had ‘won’ a great war against the management of Badkhal Lake Resort and also coz usne management ki le li thi.


In the meanwhile, our female Deburids – Usha, Amesha and Pinky, had a special bonding with each other with their feet dipped in the swimming pool. The Deburids also played an unknown game (kind of water-volleyball) which I’m sure that Rohit’s team had won or else nobody would have been allowed to come out of the pool till he had won!!!


Post our swimming session, we all went to the buffet room where a delicious breakfast was awaiting us. Initially, we all behaved very politely and having our breakfast quietly sitting in the chairs lined-up for us. Then, I started the not-so-polite behaviour when I took 2 omelets and 2 cutlets together. Following on my footsteps, everyone started grabbing and gobbling food rather than taking and eating them. Finally, the situation was such that everyone was standing at the entrance of the buffet room and food was not ‘allowed’ inside the room. By the way, when all this hullabaloo was on, Vivek sir was busy sipping his beer, quietly, in one corner thinking that nobody would notice him but let me tell you one thing Vivek sir – we Deburids don’t just DRINK beer, we can even SMELL it.


But, on the whole, it was lot of fun and the management was also very friendly and cooperative as they tolerated all our shouting and naughtiness yet served us politely till we could not eat anymore. After we had had probably the best breakfast in a long, long time, we rested for some half an hour sorts and started off our journey back to Delhi. While coming back to Delhi, we all were supposed to come back to India Gate from where we had started-off but lost people on the way coz the traffic was too much and we could not ride together. Finally, only a few of us managed to reach India Gate (rest went home) and gathered at the chai-wala to have some tea and cold-drinks. After spending some 45 minutes there, we all rode back to our homes after the biggest and a very successful ride of the ever-increasing and ever-thumping DELHI BULL RIDERS!!!