In our country, scooters have been associated with the female gender while bikes are regarded as more masculine, meant for young men on the move. This notion persists despite the famous Hamara Bajaj campaign where a man used to take out his family on his scooter. Even today you see the likes of Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra riding a scooty in advertisements, while the likes of John Abraham and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are projected as keen bike lovers.
Challenging this notion, and treating bike lovers as a family of all sexes, Royal Mavericks - Delhi Royal Enfield Rider Group and Chew Pan Asian Cafe invited all Enfield users and lovers to come together and celebrate the spirit of adventure. Royal Mavericks, said to be the brain child of Tariq Afaque, endeavours to foster a relationship among the Enfield users. Said Tariq, “The idea behind forming this group was to spread safety among bikers. This year the Delhi One Ride is being hosted with the same motto of promoting road safety and building a more social responsible society, as negligence in riding could prove fatal not only to the rider but to others on the road as well.” The ride attracted nearly 80 bikers including some young girls and foreigners. The ride started from Gurgaon and culminated at Connaught Circus, covering a distance of nearly 60 kms.
So far the group, predictably, has had a predominantly male membership. At this year’s One Ride, though, the attention was focussed on a young lady called Yashoda Kumari. She won high praise for travelling from Noida to Sindri, a village near Dhanbad in Jharkhand on her Royal Enfield. She covered the one-way distance of 1250 kms in 30 hours, including a night stopover at a motel. The club gifted her a leather riding jacket for her achievement.
Yashoda claimed she had always been into bikes and her father instilled in her the love for machines.
“My father rides a Royal Enfield and he taught me the art of riding a Bullet when I was in just Eighth standard. On the occasion of Holi I wanted to be with my family but unfortunately could not get a seat reserved in a train, then I thought of going on my Enfield. I gathered courage and went off to everyone’s surprise. I have never participated in any competitive rally so far but this June I will be going to Ladakh with my group Royal Mavericks.”
