Shoot! I've got a Scooty!

I had always thought of myself as an independent, modern woman who can make her own decisions and stand on her own feet. And for me, the ultimate symbol of any woman's freedom is when she can ride her own bike. Instead of the little black dress, I had always dreamed of the little, red Scooty that I would one day buy. In my dreams, I was this super cool chick  in her red Scooty who handled India's crazy roads effortlessly, whizzing past cursing car owners and cranky auto drivers, twisting and turning around alleys and impossibly small lanes and all this with a smile on my face. Of course, I owned a bicycle in school so how difficult it would be to ride a bike.... right? wrong!

My nightmare started after my well-meaning husband gifted me a red-n-white Scooty Pep Plus on my birthday. 4 months and 2 days later, me and the Scooty have to still come to terms with each other. I haven't even taken my Scooty alone for a ride. I always ride with my-knight-in-shining-armour-hubby-dear sitting behind me, ready to grab me and the bike (which embarrassingly happens more often than i would like to admit) if we were to fall.  I have now got a new-found respect for all those silk-sari-clad women with 2 kids, 4 bags and 2 water bottles in tow riding past me while i try to beg my bike to move an inch without stuttering. Their bikes blink back at me sarcastically while mine wheezes at the sight of a regular Indian pothole!

No Peppy ride this!

After much research and thought, I've come up with a few roadblocks that come in my path to become a true biker-chick:

1) U-turns are a complete no, no - My bike has a life of its own and finds it below its dignity to make a U-turn. Instead like royalty it takes the straight path and nothing else.

2) Parking Blues - I really don't get how people park their monster BMWs and Audis without breaking a sweat, while my little chihuahua refuses to enter a space where two bullets would have happily lounged. but my woes don't end there - I have realized taking the bike out of the parking area is a more tricky prospect than parking the bike. By the time, we find our way around a wall, a FZ, 3 splendors, a beggar and a tree and just avoided a yelling autowallah, my bike and I am in tears.

3) OMG, it's a Bump! -   Mysteriously, my bike stops right in front of a road bump and refuses to go over it. and this often happens in the middle of a jam-packed road during peak hours. I can almost feel hubby dear fuming behind me as angry horns blare around me, while i try to coax my poor bike to 'just do it'.

4)What traffic rules? - In Indian roads, there's an unwritten rule that everyone follows - that there's no rule! So even if my bike and I keep religiously to the left and follow all the traffic rules, there's always an idiot who almost runs over me, and shatters whatever little confidence I had in my riding ability.

5)The Free Advisers - Then there are the generous by-standers who are always ready with their truckloads of wisdom - 'No missy, take left' go right' 'didn't eat properly today.' 'that's why women should stay at home' 'In our days...". By this time, we both have called it a day.

I still dream of the day when me and my sleek, mean machine will ride together on the highways of Chennai in utter peace and pride.... until then its more potholes and roadblocks on the way for us!