The World from the Back of a Bike

Today, I rode on a motorbike for the first time.
At first, it was scary.
Like the first 20 seconds.
But from then on, I didn’t ever want to get off.
There’s something to be said about
Whizzing by an auto-rickshaw with a half-inch to spare
Or taking your time leisurely turning taking a right-handed u-turn
[thanks to the British, Indians drive on the “wrong” side of the road].
As we zipped through the city
I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a movie:
My hair coming unbraided in the wind
As I wiped the bugs off the inside of my euro-style helmet,
Indie-style purse wrapped across my body
And my red linen skirt hiked just-high-enough
For me to feel like a rough, tough, adventuring girly-girl…
I even gained enough comfort and confidence to relax my death grip
And balance with my core.
The movie-star feeling was enhanced
Due to the fact that there are very very few
Scandinavian girls riding motorbikes through
“inner city” Bangalore ☺
As we zoomed through the narrow, stone, garbage-filled streets
of the poorer Muslim area,
people were milling all around and I just tried to take it all in.
Sometimes I imagined that I was in a chase scene in a Bond movie
And my confession is that other times I closed my eyes and pretended I was in Rome…Lizzie McGuire movie anyone?
Anyway, the whole time I was wishing that I could be videotaping
And capturing incredible photos
But chose instead to enjoy the moment…
It’s times like these that personal paparazzi would come in handy ☺
We even got pulled over by a cop…and then bribed him to let us go.
Only in India.