THE RESPONSE BELOW MAKES MORE SENSE IF YOU ARE A MOTORHEAD & HAVE READ THE ISSUE.

BUT GIVEN THAT IT ALSO TALKS ABOUT THE LIFE OF YOURS TRULY, AM SURE YOU WILL STILL ENJOY IT.

From buying an average of two magazines per month to probably just two a year. A collection of  over 400 magazines then to just a couple of handfuls now. My fifteen years of reading began much before the CBZ graced the covers of many hallowed titles. (Thanks to my older brother.) Price per issue has gone from INR 25 to INR 100. Now, don't get me started on fuel. The two strokers hold a very special place and are all but extinct. Career has strolled down a handful of pathways. A girlfriend or two during the years. From an angsty teenager to an angrier young man. Biking took a bit of a sabbatical for me compared to my level of involvement before. But one thing has stayed constant even before the 15 years. I unabashedly say, motoring has always been in my blood.

My darling sis in law bought the slush fest issue for her hubby along with another motorcycle mag. To me, the good ol' BSM has always been more of a motorcyclists' book. As luck would have it, the hubby dearest had to take the mag along for his business trip. As soon as I got my hands on it, the first and only proper article I read was that of the Duke. Just as Ruman said about the bike, the write-up for me, was just what the doctor ordered. Till date I have ridden an RD only once and that short run never saw me touch the 6th cog. Being the youngest biker amongst my brother's buddies, I guess all their advice made  me overtly cautious. But she did give me my share of goose-bumps. I still make RD sounds from my nose and throat  when I get a severe cold. Forget about the how. And just like the RD, the original Kinetics, the RXs and the CBZ/Karizma, these little Austrian street demons have a distinctive note too. I don't know about imitating the KTM's exhaust sound, but am pretty sure I will touch the 6th cog on this worthy successor to that grand-daddy of performance motorcycles. Funny how we refer to these machines in both genders no?

As a kid I enjoyed sitting on my neighbor's parked RTZ. Never got a ride on it, as the said neighbor was rarely around. Was always thrilled on the RX tank rides my Uncle's friend gave us. FYI, he went onto a Pulsar and rides a Bullet now. My English school teacher's husband never failed to get my schooling eyes and ears peering out my window at every moment that he passed by. He rode around a Maruti Omni engined contraption. Oops, sorry. It was definitely a motorcycle. One that had the RD's chassis, and a gearbox and exhaust pipe from the Bullet no less! Today he drives around on an Avenger, his son's Thunderbird and his Thar & Bolero. But that is still the best three cylindered bike I have ever seen and heard. Yet to see those Triumphs in India. Add to that the locality's famous red Funduros and a myriad of RDs and the Bullet in my building that I used to hate cause it was too loud for us ground floor folk. Course, I have grown to love the Bullet now. No surprises there, specially when it was my paternal grandpa's dream bike that stayed in his dreams just as much as he did in mine. (He saw heaven before I saw the light of day)

These days my eyes and ears peer out at the orgasmic sounding cross-plane R1 that seemed to have had it's share of slush fests this monsoon. A Gixxer passes by every now and then, not to forget some precious multi-cylindered Hondas. Oh and the next society's Street Bob. I managed to ride an Iron 883 some months ago. Felt just as it should have. A Bullet that has grown in heart. But again, brain matter took center stage than the heart and I couldn't ride it to even half it's potential. Don't have the resources to buy one if i break one you see. And the occasional grand-daddy does pass by the house too. 

As I begin my day with this love letter, getting nearer to my three decades on earth, nostalgia once again brings my dusty fingers to my plastic covered keyboard. It's been ages since I wrote you a letter. We've been through sea changes in everything that life has to offer here in India. We have Phantoms and Ghosts next door to people seeing ghosts of onions past.  Water to splash into at rooftop infinity pools while people clamor for a drop to drink. We spend as much time and money at the malls as we do on eBay and Facebook. Thankfully I do see the youth and people setting aside finances for good causes just

as much. My family has moved from a Chetak to a Kine', from the original CBZ(still dislike the current one for being named after it), to now a Karizma and a Dio. I'd like to get an Impulsive job done on our trusty ol' Karizma. Crasto, you listening? Oh and fate willing our family may see a Bullet soon and maybe, just maybe a Duke 390 even sooner. Evolution Indeed.