As a people, we make convenient adjustments, accommodating ourselves to any situation. In the restaurant, we convert one bowl of soup into two. On the suburban train, we convert a three-seater bench into a four-seater, helping a stranger have a comfortable journey.
Sometimes, we make adjustments where we should not. On the road, we convert a two-wheeler into a train coach, our ‘adjusting’ heart preternaturally expanding the capacity of the motorcycle’s saddle to seat five, even six people.
Those who transform a motorcycle into a five-passenger carrier have obviously not thought through the dangers of travelling in this manner. The motorcycle becomes unstable. Manoeuvrability is compromised. Tyres are under severe pressure and prone to overheating, raising the possibility of blowouts. This particular risk increases if the journey is long and the total weight of the passengers is considerably high. A motoring enthusiast and journalist tells me motorcycles saddled with three full-grown adults and two children are a common sight on the highways of Rajasthan and Haryana. So are tyre blowouts due to such overloading.
Without trying to justify this reckless on-road behaviour, let’s explore the reasons for it. In distinctly rural areas, where the concept of last-mile connectivity is unheard of, let alone promoted, people are left to manage their local commutes with personal transport. Considering the majority of them are unlikely to have access to personal transport, this is an ironical situation.
The only way for most of them to reach their place of work is to latch on to a neighbour’s motorcycle. Who cares if you are the sixth passenger saddled up on the bike?
Many moons ago, during a trip to Javadhi Hills, this writer found out that the phrase ‘missing the bus’ was a felt reality for residents of the hamlets there. A rickety old bus, hardly frequent, was then the only economical option for residents of Amirdi to travel uphill to Nambiampattu, one of the few places where they could conduct commerce. Their livelihood hinged on being on time for the bus. If they missed it, the only other option was thumbing down a motorcycle or any other private vehicle headed uphill.
Five-passenger motorcycle rides are not restricted to such villages. They can be witnessed in areas fringing our cities. Thanks to urban sprawl, the city often arrives in these areas before development does. Even when it does, the development is focused only on the main corridors and much of the interior sections are inaccessible.
And for a massive number of workers, especially those in the construction industry, employment lies in those hidden areas. In the interior areas off Old Mahabalipuram Road, close to sections such as Kelambakkam and Navalur, it’s common to see chief masons taking four of their helpers on a bike, at a time, to their work site. For a living, they are forced to make this inadvisable adjustment.
