The undersigned among all the friends of a certain Susmita Basak have had the rare opportunity and glory of being a pillion-rider of her old man Mr. Bijan Basak. I had put my hopes on the fact that Mr. Basak definitely did not look the killer type. Surprises- before I knew what was happening, I was asked to hop on without a ruddy helmet and we scooted at full speed through a milling crowd so typical to W C Bonerjee St into a more typical crowd of Maniktala and past.
I must add here that in North Calcutta, around those parts pedestrians and riders think equally strongly that the right of way belongs to them. Its like those continuum of micro-agents in people's minds- when I am a pedestrian, I would say that right of way belongs to pedestrians and then a complete role-and-opinion reversal as a rider.
However, through this kind of a traffic nightmare we went doggedly phut-phuting taking strange turns at the very last moment and I held on to the stepney tyre for dear life. I was sometimes getting thrown against the said tyre and realized later that the small of my back after all was a delicate part of my body.
After grabbing bhujia and some tea at Sayak's place, our fateful destination, to pep myself up, I politely refused a second leg of ride and took the bus home that night.
My dear friend, you were really really lucky to have the opportunity to ride Bijanda's scooter and even luckier to be able to stand on both of your legs after hopping off the vehicle. I myself rode onto the pillion for million times and I am still inventing new tricks to save my legs from hitting a wall, a pedestrian, a street dog, a car.. you name whatever comes on your way in a busy street. So, hats off to you, tiny little girl !!
ReplyDeleteHere are some recent updates. The old and gold Bajaj, is still very much alive and kicking !! As you know very well, my dad loves to accelerate, so it goes to the mechanic regularly for servicing. And the veteran rider may not be at the best of his health but still continuing 'phut-phuting' around the city. Let me finish with a small anecdote. Couple of weeks ago my dad was driving the scooter very slowly down Bagmari bridge (according to him 'ami gorie gorie namchilam'). Suddenly a taxi-door was opened and it hit the scooter. The experienced rider fell off the scooter. Luckily he was not hurt except some minor bruises.
Moral of the story :: do it in your own way, because everything else sucks.
LOL!!
ReplyDeleteloved both pieces.I have not had the (mis)fortune of experiencing the bat mobile but I am sure it is a piece of work, especially having survived Kolkata roads for that long :)
Rakhi,
ReplyDeleteIt can get so scary its hilarious!
:)