Why We Ride?
For a subtle mind, motorcycling is Tantra. The capacity to see the journey as the destination that never arrives
I was two hours into my 14-day solo ride on my Royal Enfield motorcycle to the valley of Gods — Uttaranchal. As per my plan, I should have crossed Ghaziabad but thanks to a flat tyre, I’m yet to escape the maddening traffic of New Delhi. My first halt was 240 Kms away in Rishikesh and it is already 6 pm in the evening. As I crossed the Capital’s precincts, I sighed a sense of relief, hoping to vroom up on the highway. Just then I found myself in the middle of a torrential thunderstorm (The newspapers later called this the strongest thunderstorm of the decade!). In 10 minutes, I managed to find a shelter from the rains, but 10 minutes was all that was required to drench me and my entire luggage on the back of my motorcycle. Fully wet, with no dry clothes to spare, and my mobile phone proving that it wasn’t waterproof, I hit the highway after the rain gods relented. After 4 hours of blissful thumping, I started ascending the hilly roads to Rishikesh. I was thrilled to drive on the empty roads zipping through a moonlit forest reserve. I thought it was a perfect finish to a challenging day — till the motorcycle’s clutch wire snapped. With nobody around on the midnight roads and about 10 Kms uphill between me and my guest house, I thought it was an easier option to push the 250 kg beast 8 km downhill to Haridwar. After an hour of burning over 1000 calories, I checked into a budget hotel for the night. What a way to begin my motorcycle rally.
Motorcycle journeys are great crucibles to train one’s mind to expect the unexpected. Landslides, weather, traffic, tyre punctures, local terrain, hooligans on the road and countless other factors make it near to impossible to experience certainty and predictability. One intuitively develops an abundance mentality and an ability to manage any situation. After all, it is a question of your survival.
Before a motorcycle rally, you will need to work on travel schedules, logistics arrangements, motorcycle maintenance etc. But the most critical area you need to work on is your mind. It is the quality and temperament of the mind which decides the quality of the ride. Breakdowns, potholes, bad roads, inclement weather and even hooligans on the road may drag your ride. A true rider is beyond all this. He doesn’t negotiate potholes or traffic jams. He negotiates himself. A seasoned biker is a seasoned Sakshi of himself. He doesn’t see the road before him. He sees himself seeing the road before him.
Motorcycles have an uncanny ability to engage us physically and mentally. When one cruises on a motorcycle, the body dances in response to the forces of physics and mechanics. Motorcycling, like any art, is a craft to be developed. The skill is in synchronizing one’s mind and body with the machine. The skill is making the machine respond to you, just the way you trained your body to respond. Put it simply, for a matured biker, the machine is just an extension of one’s body. When this convergence of the body, mind and machine happens on the road, you experience the sweet spot of motorcycling. A sweet spot where the biker experiences oneness with everything — around him and within him. It is in the pursuit of this sweet spot which makes any biker hit the highway again and again and again.
I have been on the Himalayan roads for the last 7 days. The snake-like swirling roads towards the icy peaks of the Himalayas through pristine forests and streams with occasional face massages by moist clouds offered one of the best biking experiences. Motorcycling on such roads reminds us of a larger perspective of life itself. For a biker, it doesn’t matter what your destination is. What is important is the journey itself. For a rider, the journey is the only destination. For a subtle mind, motorcycling is Tantra. The capacity to see the Journey as the destination that never arrives.
My first two-wheeler was a 49CC Luna moped which I used to chug along to my college. I never enjoyed riding and I never thought that a simple and a mundane activity like riding to college would be a source of tremendous joy and inspiration — until I joined Chinmaya Yuva Kendra (CHYK). CHYK has a rich tradition of motorcycling which can put to shame any of the famed Harley Davidson motorcycle clubs. Any new member of CHYK will find it hard to ignore the numerous motorcycle folklores and stories of Senior CHYKs. The legend goes that it was Swami Chinmayananda (Founder of Chinmaya Mission) himself who inspired the youngsters to master the art of living through the art of motorcycling. He had the vision to see the union of spirituality and motorcycling. The Master himself had flagged off numerous cross country rallies to inculcate a spirit of adventure, fearlessness and mindfulness in the youth. It was in the year 2001 Mumbai where I started my first cross-country motorcycle rally. A group of 30 youngsters along with Swami Mitranandaji (Acharya of Chinmaya Mission, Chennai) in 15 bikes embarked on a 4-day drive to Chennai. “Write your blood group on the back of your palms so that we know it in case you meet with an accident” was the first instruction provided by Swamiji. It was enough to send shivers in a timid first-timer like me. But I decided to ride along for I had no train ticket to get back to Chennai. But within a few kilometres on the highway, fear made way for a sense of freedom and peace. Sundar Anna (loving reference as an elder brother), a seasoned rider, took it on himself to enlighten me on the skills and nuances of motorcycling — the art of overtaking, the virtues of patience, the joy of cruising, the wisdom of judgment, the importance of safety and the love of brotherhood. After several hours of riding and countless tit-bits from my new found tribe of fellow bikers, I realised that it is easy to travel but it takes tremendous skill and maturity to be a seasoned rider. For me, biking is a form of Yoga — Skill in mindful action.
Motorcycles don’t just burn rubber on road, but also hardwire some of life long values in our brains. Like the ability to focus. Cruising at over 90 Kilometers per hour, one can’t afford to take one’s mind off the road. With little effort, your mind is alert and sharp, attentive to the heartbeat of the road. Motorcycling stretches and challenges one’s physical and mental limitations, building a permanent thirst for adventure and challenges in our lives. Motorcycle rallies also help us appreciate smaller things in life and make us understand the simplistic science of life and contentment. I for now realized that it doesn’t take much to be happy. All it takes is two wheels, a fuel loaded tank, my yoga mat and endless roads.
After 10 days of a joyous ride through the valley of Gods, I reach Manna — the last Indian village at the Tibetan border. The village, barring a few makeshift houses was barren and basic, and the nearest town was down 95 Kms. I was praying that nothing should happen to my motorcycle in this desolated destination. He listened to my prayers — the accelerator wire snapped.
The writer is the CEO of Xperiential Learning Systems and Director of The Heritage Group of Schools — a group of K-12 experiential learning schools.
Author’s Note: Views expressed here are my personal views and does not reflect my organisation’s veiws. Click the clap button or share this post if you find it interesting. Would like to hear your feedback and comments. Follow me @imvishnukarthik
