RoadShakers -- "One" for the road!

Date : 14/03/07
Day : Wednesday
Time : 8pm
Place : BU Bhandari Showroom, Pashan Road.
Occasion : The "Exhaust Symphony Orchestra" concert... :D
***
Sometimes reality proves you wrong and how! That's what my first meeting with the RoadShakers did to my idea of a riding club. I'm not or rather wasn't not so long ago, a believer in the concept of riding clubs. They always are "mostly" a bunch of guys with loud &/or expensive bikes riding in the city for a mile without lids but with expensive eyewear and then posing where exposure to the fair sex is maximum. Keeping the bikes parked in full view for a coupla hours, sipping coke, giving those 'cool/hot' looks and looking down upon commuters is their idea of "biking heaven"! So i wasn't really expecting much out of the tryst with RoadShakers. Satya almost convinced me that it was a soreass (his words) idea. Then their regular joint was the other end of the city and they meet on Wednesdays of all the days....Seemed like my first meeting was mostly going to be the last one. But I was going to give it at least one go no matter what!
***
So at 7pm, I left from this-far-end-of-the-city i.e. Hadapsar towards that-far-end-of-the-city i.e. University Circle, in peak traffic hour! My processor up there was already trying to figure out the shortest/fastest route while my arms-n-legs were busy steering the bike. And then I hit something that almost made me change my mind again....Arghh...the stupid but deadly traffic. Slowly winding my way through it I hit a really really really bad traffic jam at SB Road in front of ICC Towers. I was so so ready to park my bike, take a rick home to Aundh, have my dinner at mom's place...but I soldiered on! Yeah, soldiered is the right word...Finally I made it to BU Bhandari showroom at 7.45pm only to find myself alone. Checked my phone to make sure it was a Wednesday, it was. Hmmmm...asked the local pan wallah if this is where 10's of Bullets of various shapes, sizes, colours and sounds, yes sounds, are parked at 8pm. Affirmative...so to kill time i went to the nearby ATM and by the time i got back, there were 10 odd bikes parked. So???? Was this it? I had dreamed of rows and rows of Bulls standing with burly, long haired, foul smelling guys standing behind a cloud of cigarette smoke talking things i didn't understand using language i didn't want to hear! Too much of OCC & Biker Build Off on t.v. for me i guess. Seemed like it was going to be a lame gathering after all....But since i was here, i was going to sit thru it all at least until the traffic cleared and i could head back home!
***
I started chatting with the guys around, getting "that look" reserved for the newbie in the cowboy town full of quick-draw-mcgraw's! But what luck, i met someone who was pretty new to it as well and we kinda got started. Nothing much, same stupid talk about how many miles have you done etc....but by now the count of bikes in the lot had grown to a respectable 22-25. Not bad at all! But still, sitting on mine without anyone to talk for what seemed like a lifetime was wearing my patience thin. Dunno what was i expecting? A welcome hug? Boys eager to show off their toys on wheels & share their lunch box? Or some star like welcome? Yeh right! But honestly, it never feels nice to be alone in a group where everyone else knows everyone else but no one introduces themselves to you. The only person i knew was Dr.Prasad Bhangale aka Doc whom i had met on orkut and he failed to turn up. Guess i had to do that horrible ritual of shaking-hands-over-hi-myself-nilesh-from-pune to get to know people! I hate, absolutely hate going out to perfect strangers and introducing myself...BTW, i picked that line up from Satya! :)
***
While i was making those stupid conversations and planning my exit never to return again, someone just started counting the bikes and the count had gone up to 33! And then everyone just started their bikes to move and fall into line in one of the two that were being formed. That was what basically woke me up from my stupor....all that noise. Bikes making all kinda exhaust notes ranging from the most common - loud to shrill to what seemed like bullet shots. Now this was turning good!!! I just fell into one of the lines and the 2 rows of terribly loud Bulls started moving towards University Circle. Cutting through the traffic, turning heads, the bikes cut through and made it to FC Road, Law College Road and then on SB Road finally coming to the regular joint, Firangpani, near Symbiosis. I was just too excited to be a part of this entire cavalcade to notice how long did the ride last or how fast did we go kinda stuff. Felt good man!
***
And as we parked the bikes, that feeling of being lonely in the crowd started rising again. Was it just about a 15min ride? Then someone (found out later that Rajat Gandhi it was) started collecting money for coffee..dunno when i paid that 10 bucks but i was damn hungry cause it was 9.45pm and still no sign of food or the excitement. Then someone (Manish it was) just stood up and started asking everyone to calm down to start the proceedings. Okay, so there was more than just chatting randomly. Good good! All new members raise their hands said the-voice-of-god from up above (he was standing on the chair) and 2 hands went up. One was mine and the other of a tall lanky short haired (on the head) guy who seemed just as bored/confused as me. We were asked to stand up on a bench and introduce ourselves. Damn...stage fright! Every single pair of eyes burning holes through me as i uttered - 'I'm Nilesh. I ride an Electra 5S. I work for EDS in Hadapasar. And i came to know of RoadShakers on xBhp'. That's it...only 4 sentences but at least i had people listening to me! :) What was I seeing? Girls? What were they doing here?
***
The other chap introduced himself but i didn't hear a word since i was busy gathering my wits back. And then coffee...felt much better. Then a ride to Hedvi over the weekend was announced and 14 hands went up. Okay..so a ride out of the city. Me & Satya do that too! More more...something better than that pluheez! And then Sidhu, a lanky smiling surd, got up and started explaining the rules to become a member. Hmmmm...promising cause there were rules to become a member??? And as the rules unfolded, it dawned on me that this was something more serious than just a bunch of Bulleteers riding across the city making a lot of noise.
The rules for induction were:
1. Attend at least 4 RS meets (10points)
2. Ride along for at least 3 day trips (20points)
3. Ride along for at least 1 trip with an overnight halt. (30points)
Idea seemed to wean away wannabes who weren't serious about riding and were rather interested in posing. Forms were distributed to be filled out by the new members, a new yahoo group was announced. A girl from Symbi, Deboshree, who was trying to complete an assignment on "socio-cultural impact of biker communities on the society" kinda topic, tried to explain what it was to a lot of nodding heads, wide open eyes and grinning faces. She wanted to make a documentary as well and of course she was whole heartedly welcomed! Guys remain guys no matter what!
***
By now I was already riding along towards Hedvi in my mind. The idea was at least to become a member if nothing else. So the Hedvi ride would get condition#3 out of the way. As people dispersed after what was a 30min meeting, i saw Doc, who later was assigned to me as a 'Mentor'. See, I told you it was serious business! Meetings later, the junta who was to continue on for dinner was the only one left. What the heck, I didn't have dinner at home and since the dinner venue was in Camp, I decided to stay along. Seems like the best decision I've made in a long time cause that's where i actually got to meet most of the old timers. Serious people who probably started the group and had stories of rides, incidents and meets to talk of. People who moved away to different city for a while but back again. People who could dismantle a bike on a lazy Sunday afternoon and put it back together just cause there is nothing better to do! Came to know that the founder was working for RE cause he prolly knew a lot more about the Bull's than the morons at RE. Nice cause we now have at least one sane head inside! Rajat, Adil, Kamal, Manish seemed like nice quiet guys. Tinu & Baljeet had a zillion hilarious stories to share and seemed like the ones who keep the cheer flowing in the club. Stories of old members how never came back, the mech Alex, rides with seized up Bulls....all in all, these seemed to be the wise old learned men. And their wives! Grown ups with their wives who know the group just as much as their men is always good sign. No stupid messy business. Guys comfortable enough with each other to bring along their better-halves speaks a lot right? I was at ease, chatting and finally feeling like i had a fair chance of belonging here. More importantly, it felt like i 'should' be one amongst them cause here were a bunch of guys dead serious about having fun with their bikes! Guys from different walks of like, HR, IT Programmers, Businessmen, Custom Painters, Dhaba owners, all together & bonding cause of ONE single reason - their love for the Bull and biking!
***
WAY TO GO RS! If a people move along but still want to come back given a chance, if people stick along beyond the regular biking as friends, then RS has more than enough material for the Symbi girl-Deboshree to capture! I'm looking forward to the ride to Hedvi tomorrow....