Why do I ride solo?

At 3.00 in the morning, when most of the world is fast asleep and I would rather ride, well naturally it has to be solo.

Or if I manage to get caught up with work or some other four letter word to the extent that I am finally on the highway with the Indian night {and its killer traffic} in front of me, calling someone to ride along wouldn't exactly be a bright idea, would it be?

All said and done, however, I do not really think I ride solo.

For one, the exhaust of the Bullet is always there, now a growl, now a scream, now a muted thump.

For another, there are the passing Trucks and Buses {and their slipstreams}, each intent on its own journey, each different in its own way.

And of course there are the people I get to meet. People who suddenly become as important as breakfast, lunch or the Chhai break. People who get so intimately burnt in the being that I am sure I can pick them out of a thousand similar faces, even years down the line.

In my own way, I have experienced first-hand, how the Bullet helps in breaking down barriers and making solicitious friends out of strangers, be it the villager on a bicycle trundling his way into his fields, the policeman doing duty at a city roundabout or the student who saves something like 5 Rupees since he managed to hitch a ride to his college at the periphery of a small, one-street town.

In Chattisgarh, it was a officious looking type who stopped in the middle of nowhere and tried helping me out with a persistent starting problem.

All through Ladakh, whenever I would see a truck or a Military Green heavy vehicle, by some innate synchronisation both the concerned driver and I would raise our hands at the same time.

And also smile at each other.

In Rajasthan as in other parts of the country, there would be the Dhaba waalahs, the owners who would prevail on me to sleep there, guaranteeing my safety, my luggage's safety and my Bullet's safety; the kids who work at Dhabas requesting that their snaps be taken and the nightwatchman who would wake me up with early morning tea.

I do not know if I have ridden enough to say this, but I do not think one rides solo when one rides a Bullet.

I ride alone and I ride a Bullet too.