Weekend Therapy

Things have been not the same since we started our battle with the Corona Virus. What used to be unusual for humanity, has become usual. In the current usual scenario, a typical week starts with me waking up late for my work. I get up to see the clock and realize its been way past the time I have to log in to work, jump off the bed, and get brushed, shouting at my mom for a coffee because my head still buzzes inside with lack of sleep. I open my laptop and check my inbox to see a dozen emails from the manager and a pile work. It begins. The same routine goes on for the 4 days, tired, depressed, and sleep-deprived. The only thing that makes me move forward is the thought of the weekend that is to come.

Now the weekend isn’t just another two days for me and I am sure it’s the same for every other person. These two days are when I detox, I let go of all that stress and pain I had to go through for the last 5 days. It begins similar to a normal weekday, but I don’t get bothered seeing the time on the clock, I lie down awake for a while, slowly get up, get freshened up, and go down to the kitchen, because today I don’t shout at my mom for a coffee. I make myself a coffee, pour it into my mug, walk outside to the porch, and sit on the stairs. I sit there and look at my bike. Yes, I just sit there looking at my bike with a smile on my face, while I sip some coffee from my mug. You must be thinking I am crazy. Sit and smile at my bike? Seriously?

Well, I don’t know how to explain, but it’s a magical feeling. You feel all that stress and pressure which you kept holding inside you slowly fade away. As I stare at my bike, looking into each part of my bike in detail, I might find something it needs. Maybe a wash because my bike was looking dirty or the chain needs to be lubed and cleaned. I immediately prepare myself for what is to be done. Now you must be wondering why the hell am I not taking this day off relaxing, doing nothing, and maybe watching Netflix. But this is my weekend therapy. No matter how small or big the work is, I do it enjoying. Even if its to clean between those tight unreachable places between the handlebar or when the spanner slips of when you try to remove that tight rusty bolt. I enjoy it. You don’t have to be a bike expert or mechanic to do anything. You just need to have that passion and dedication to learn things that you could do to maintain your bike.

In the end, once all the work is done, I turn on the bike and press the start. And I hear my bike, the sound of the engine thumping, the sound from the exhaust, the sound of some loose bolt vibrating and I hit the throttle, to hear my bike roar, like a soothing melody to my ear. Now, this isn’t something different or unique that I do. It is something any person who loves his motorcycle would do. Whether it’s a 100cc bike or a liter-class bike, the sound of your bike is something that you would never stop listening to.

I tell this to my folks, they laugh at me, I tell my friends and they say I am just a showing of “rider”. Laugh all you want and tease me however you want, but there, right there, working on the bike is where I am at peace and that’s all that matters.