From a biker....

What will I have to talk to and show to my grandsons once I am old? My salary slips? You live only once, so why not enjoy while you can. Jobs can wait, but times like these cant and wont. Come on, leave you 9-5 jobs, break free, and go do what you have been craving to do. BREAK FREE….People usually ask me how I landed up doing what I am doing right now. They also usually ask me if I am getting paid for all this and if this is all what I do! Being a biker and having the freedom of two wheels and seeing India on two-wheels is probably the most rewarding thing for me right now. Add to it my family which has always supported me for what I have wanted to do and sacrificed a lot for my fancies, hobbies and passions.It all started when I was 17 years old and the biking thing was kicking inside me. After much pleading, my dad finally got me a Hero Honda CBZ on the 31st of January 2001, the coolest bike at that time. That really kicked the real biker in me and that bike taught me how to respect speed and power, it taught me stunts and how to tour, it made me a real biker. In the meantime, I met Sunny one fine day and the story of xBhp started from then on. He pestered me to improve on my stunts while I pestered him to start with the weekly biking meets in the capital and thus xBhp was born – the brainchild of Sundeep Gajjar, aka, Sunny. My next level was when I got the Hero Honda Karizma on the 15th of June 2003. Thank you mom and dad. The Karizma made me further understand biking seriously and this along with xBhp meant that I was now a passionate biker, plus a Himalayan addict, going there every 3-4 months. In 2005, Castrol joined hands with us and started supporting the club and in June 2005, I went to Pune to work with BIKE INDIA and CAR INDIA magazine and was probably India’s youngest automobile journalist! Being away from home and working with the best people in the business did teach me a lot. xBhp in the mean time was growing day by day and our plan of doing a pan-India roadtrip was taking shape for real. At this time, I also went through one of the most painful days of my life when I was operated on for Fistula (read more on http://bunnypunia.blogspot.com) but then it was also a time for celebration as my brother got married and I too got engaged! Life moved on, but not for long and on my birthday, 29th September 2006 I resigned from my job to live my life and joined the group for the Great Indian Road Trip on which I am right now, lying on the Hammock under a coconut tree on this perfect lake resort. There is an awesome lake a few feet from me, luxury boat houses are passing by, I am listening to my Ipod and recalling all that has happened to me in my life. I have been fortunate to have my family besides me and really owe them a lot. Yeah, I really do miss them, my mother’s home cooked food, my father’s advices and tips, my brothers supportive talks, my Bhabhi’s love and yes I don’t tell them all this on the phone but in reality I do miss them all. And then there is the love of my life, whom I met on 31st January 2000, almost seven years back, and will be marrying her very soon. Then there are over 25,000 xBhp members who constantly support and wish us, who meet us in various cities, being our guides and showing us around, escorting us into the city as late as midnight, ruining their Sundays to help us fix our machines and what not. Last but not the least, our sponsors, who showed faith in us and helped us start this ride. Some people really wonder and ask why I left a good job, where I had a nice future, for a ride like this? No, I don’t want to be an employee, but an employer. My grandfather too had left a well secured Air Force job and started his own business of supplying equipment to the defence. My father too followed in his foot-steps of doing business. May be then, it’s in my blood to be a businessman!I have thought what I will be doing once this roadtrip is over – it has been a dream thing and I will make sure it bloody well happens. This was a dream too and I am living it, and there is another dream, which I will be living from 5th December onwards. Mind you, dreams are not easily to realize. Take this trip for instance – riding from noon to night, blogging and uploading pictures at night, sleeping, only to wake up early morning for pictures again. Bodies ache, metabolic system goes for a toss, and things like conjunctivitis and cold keep troubling you all the time. Yes, there are rewards like seeing yourself in leading newspapers, meeting people like John, being wished and encouraged by bikers, unknown people, children and all. Trust me, in the end, its all worth it. Love you all…