Today, I drove long(?) distance in my car after almost 2 years. A total of just over 510km. It took me 4h:10m to get to Starbucks in Sarnobatwadi and 7h:40m to get back because of the ridiculous traffic jams caused by badly planned road widening(?) by those who are in power and the suicidal driving habits of those that put them there. Take a look at my selfie at 2300h IST today. I look every bit a man who has driven for almost 12 hours, and enjoyed none of it!
But that isn’t what this post is about. It is about a casual remark Misbahji made:
‘You drive like you ride.’
I realised that I do. I am very aggressive. I like speed. I like to accelerate quickly. I like to brake hard. I like to change gears frequently and quickly. I like high rpm and lower gears. I like to anticipate from a much larger distance than normal. I like to beat Google Maps. And I enjoy listening to all sorts (from Manna Day to Guns ’n Roses) of songs (and sing along loudly) as I go about driving, even as I engage in constant patter with my co-passenger(s). I am sure my risk profile is similar whether I am on two or four wheels, meaning I am as likely to be safe or dangerous, to myself and/or others on my motorcycle as I am at the wheel of my car.
Apparently, my brother (the late Flt Lt Abhijit Gadgil) also drove as he rode as he flew. Similarly aggressive as his ‘Bade Bhaiyya’, that is, yours truly. And our father, (the late Wg Cdr, later Air India Captain, Anil Gadgil) too rode, drove, and flew in the exact same fashion: with diligence, caution, defensively, and in a very very planned and organised manner. He would have been rather disappointed that not even one of us turned out like him: viz., sane. I think we both take after our mother in that sense. Treating life with gay abandon, a carefree (maybe borderline careless, to be perfectly honest) attitude, prioritising adrenaline over lifelines, and recklessly enjoying it all, even as we hurtle towards what others might consider certain death (which, in the long run, we all arrive at in some manner or the other anyway).
So, question: How many of you operate all machines in the same way? Also, can one extrapolate this theory to include other things one does in life? I know I live my life: financially, professionally, and romantically, at the very least, on rather similar terms as I ride. Do you?
P.S.: I was so jealous of some of the riders we passed as we drove that Misbahji caught me shouting at one particular group, ‘Mere pass bhi hai motorcycle. Isse bhi achhi. Aur gear bhi hai. Isse bhi achha.’ She laughed. I did not like it.
