Me, Myself & My Bike...

Bottom of The Pyramid...is something much more than mere a term coined by Prahlad and Hamel to me. I am literally there 12th or 15th onwards of every month. Now, this may seem an anomaly considering that I have worked for a good 2 yrs before taking the MBA plunge and I should have "logically" saved some dough for my stay here. This is a good time to bring to light a minor point that "saving" as a desirable act still is something I only speak/write tonnes about but am a total failure as far as practising it is concerned. Now lets see...there has to be something I can refer to as my savings from the couple of years I was part of the much celebrated Indian IT "cheap labour" brigade? Hmmmm?...still thinking...hmmmm...ok I give up. Nothing. Zilch! I blew it all!

Wait a minute! There is something. My bike. My sleek n sexy Pulsar-150! Yup...now that's what you call "real" investment! Man...I love that thing! How much? Well for one...It reached Pune 20 days before I did when I joined last year. It was here already...waiting for me! There were some restrictions about having vehicles at hostel but lets just say that I am not that nice a guy! How could I even dare to dream of leaving it behind? There are times when you want to just blank your mind. No thoughts. No dreams. No worries. No ambition. No gals....ok just a select few! I had those moments...still do...when I am riding my bike. And I love them! It's a different zone all together. Even Deepak Chopra and Robin Sharma can't encapsulate that feeling in their so-called "recipies to a good life" books!

Today was Dussera. Being an off day at college I decided to wash and wax my bike. Something I religiously did till I joined MBA. Good water supply and free classes never quite came together for me since then. Today I thought of taking my chances and took my bike to Gupta Ji. Gupta Ji is the caretaker of a popular lodge close by and we both being from the same region...the "cow belt" of India, I decided to try some PR on him and get him to spare a couple of buckets of water. Sadly, he was on leave! So I kick-started my trusted ride, looking for a garage to get it washed. Though I admit I love to do the cleaning myslef. Been 2 & 1/2 yrs but this is something I have always enjoyed doing. Kinda gives me a "feel good". Something like what the clebrities call..."giving back..." or "doing my bit..." Kinda "I owe it to my bike" thing.

Unfortunately all the garages I rode by either had too long queues or no water. Then as I was passing a line of rickety houses near a place called Wakad on the outskirts of Pune, I came across a small house where 4 labourers were busy washing a Tata 407 truck. They had the only resource I needed. Water. So I decided to give it a try. Of course, it meant doing it by myself and that too in not exactly "familiar territories". Anyway, I asked the one who was directing the others if I could just put my bike on stand next to his truck and all his men had to do was direct the water hose on it once in a while. He gave me an enquiring look and then with a "what the hell" look...nodded. Thank God!

So there I was. With the sun on my back. Taking off from my books, case studies, submissions, presentations...all the jazz that comes with an MBA, and doing something I truly enjoyed. Getting my bike to shine like a mirror! So now there were 4 labourers and one jeans and T-shirt clad guy (that would be me!) sharing the water hose and washing a truck and a bike. After cleaning all the dirt from the extended Pune rains, I took out the sachet of bike shampoo & wax polish mix I generally use and poured it over the fuel tank and the mudguard. My co-washer (sounds...foolishly cool na? ) were quite amused by the "ingridients" of my bike-wash. After about 30mts or so my bike was all cleaned up and gleaming in the afternoon sun. I had a proud look on my face and I would like to believe that the other fellas were impressed by my efforts too. Once I wiped it dry and gave that wax coat a nice shine, I thanked them and rode off to the nearest fuel station. Then I went on a long...30km drive on the highway. Something akin to Alonso's victory lap!

Just me, myself and my bike!