It's 5.30 am on a Sunday morning, and the pleasant purrs of a Harley Davidson Street 750 grow louder as it glides into Phoenix MarketCity. The man riding it swings his leg in a clean arc, dismounting, and checks his reflection in the rear view mirror, pushing back his hair with his fingers. Having parked his gleaming bike alongside a Benelli and a Triumph, he joins the rest of the people gathered there to take part in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR).
Men, and a fair number of women, have come out looking their best: in suits, velvet blazers (never mind the heat), suspenders, bow-ties and berets, to ride till WelcomHotel Kences Palm Beach in Mamallapuram.
Selfies abound, of course. “What you see now is just for today,” grins 32-year-old Abhineet Iyan, a software developer from Chennai who has just finished clicking pictures from all the right angles. “This is not what we look like on a daily basis, I spent hours sprucing up the bike, and myself, for this.” Abhineet borrowed his friend’s 1976 Yezdi, motorcycle.
“Earlier we thought it is just a rally, but when we realised it is for raising awareness about prostate cancer and men’s mental health, we decided to take part as well. Men really don’t speak about their mental issues, we need to learn to open up,” he adds.
For some others, it is about ogling at the huge variety of superbikes and vintage rides lined up. There’s a glint in 27-year-old Moumita Mondal’s eyes as she takes in the motorcycles on display. She has come here all the way from Puducherry, where she studies. “I bought an Avenger 220 Street a year ago, when I took up bike-riding as a hobby… But now, looking at all these bikes, I am really tempted to buy another one. There are just so many to choose from!” she exclaims.
Agrees Arun Krishnan, who is participating in the DGR for the second time. “It’s fun to dress up but the bikes are definitely the eye candy here,” says the 69-year-old. Arun is riding a Triumph Bonneville, his dream motorcycle that he had been eyeing since college but couldn’t afford to buy. “I was finally able to buy this four years ago. To be honest, I don’t ride it much, I use my TT bike (Time Trail bicycle) regularly,” he says.
Many of the participants have come in with their families, or just their children. Dressed in striking white, a father-daughter pair stood out in the sea of black suits. Khuzema Raja is here on his Harley Davidson Iron. On being asked why he decided to take part in the DGR, he takes a minute to put his thoughts in order. Fast as the bike she is on, his 13-year-old daughter cuts him short, “We are here for the thrill.”
