Men are but Little Boys !!

Someone has rightly said about we guys..that deep inside we are just little boys..fond of our toys..be them gadgets, cars, bikes, etc etc etc. Maybe true but arguable - what say?

This reminds me of one incident dating back to 1998. Had just moved to the city of dreams. First job. First salaries. Picked up a few scale model bikes and treasured them a lot. But couldn't resist taking them out at night and inspect them for details.

One such night late at about 1:00 AM i picked up the 1:12 BMW R 1100 GS and as lil boys would do..started playing with it. Rotated the wheels. Turned the handle. Checked the working suspension. and then did a trial run on the bed. felt nice. So now got off the bed and made an obstacle course out of the folded bedsheet, quilt pillow a few books and then 'started ' the bike at one end, trying to mimic the 'real' roar of the boxer twin. Then started off with a wheelie, bike in right hand slowly turning the bike to lift the wheel, accelerating and increasing the humming as i did and took the first jump across the bumpy pillow. Screeched to a halt at the other end of the bed. Blipped the throttle a couple of times..vroom vroom ..dumped the clutch and then blowing some imaginary dust sped ahead towards the other side of the closed circuit...braked hard..drifted and turned around wheelie again..a yank at the handlebars..and liftoff..followed by a nice impressive 'backflip' in slow motion (the FIRST on a BMW R 1100 GS ever ;-) ) and a hard landing on the bedspread..applied front brake..a rolling stoppie and as i slowed down..flipped the bike around to ready myself for the next jump......

I thought i head something behind me so i stopped. cut the engine ( stopped the sound i was making) and turned around. My Grandpa/Guardian Mr M L Joshi (Dada) and buddy Tushar were standing behind me. Sleepy but shocked. Jaws dropped. Trying to decipher what was happening. Dada mustered up some courage, cleared his throat and asked - "Is everything all right ? Should i call your mom?" I burst out laughing and showed them the bike, saying i was just 'practicing'.

Dada shook his head and muttered under his breath -"God help us!". I just turned back and resumed my motocross session. Well that was 1989 and this is 2011. years have passed. many more scale models have been added to my kitty since then but then even today when i hold a 1:18 Valentino Rossi Ducati MotoGp bike in my hand the instant impulse is to set the wheels on the ground, rev the engine and take off on a spin. sometimes starting with a wheelie ! Guess some things are NOT age dependent. Someone has rightly said, greys in the head may make your speech slow and your words heavier but there is nothing which will stop a man from realizing that actually deep inside he is but just a boy and perhaps behave like one.

You may agree with me..maybe you wont..but if you do see me with my scale models and try to 'exhibit' your smartness with that smirk of yours, it just wouldn't affect my enthusiasm love for these 'toys' or the impulse of wheeling them on ground..yes i may not play accident accident the way i used to when i was 5 but then..i wud definitely pick the bike up and spin the wheel... :-)

So till then...Hope you too enjoy your 'little' bikes as much as you do the 'real' ones !!