Of Desire, passion and the will to travel, What’s else is required! We have all heard of the celebrity biker. The species that loves being seen on the fanciest 2 wheels that money can buy, only to park it in the garage once the photo shoot is completed. In the biking fraternity, we unceremoniously call them and others like them – Posers. I had all but branded every celebrity in this category, till I met with Aditya Raj Kapoor.
Aditya Raj Kapoor comes from the first family in Indian Cinema. His father is the great showman, the first (according to me at least) super star of Bollywood – Mr. Shammi Kapoor, his mother, the power house actress- Mrs. Geeta Bali! I grew up listening to Shammiji’s songs and watching with wide eyes the way he bought the screen to life with his antics. So, when Sheldon came to us one day during a club meet and announced that Aditya Raj Kapoor wanted to ride with our club, I was excited!
The biker in me cringed a bit thinking that we would need to put up with the star’s tantrums and we weren’t very well known for mollycoddling our fellow bikers! Boy, was I surprised!
Aditya Raj Kapoor came to meet us, without a moments delay, he became one of us. I think, it was within the first 10 minutes of the meeting that I realized that this gentleman was a different breed altogether!
Our rides started with the much vaunted and spoken about Kaas plateau ride. If you haven’t read about it, you can here. This was his first ride on his newly purchased Classic 500 and he can hold his head high for the way he rode that day! His sense of humor livened up the evening and the stories that he tells about how he got to start riding and his escapades, had us in splits.
We rode again when he was the captain for another ride to a beach town in Maharashtra. Another facet opened up here. This guy can cook! The ride aptly called Barbeque and Beaches, was surely the tastiest of all our rides, thanks to the culinary skills displayed by the even down to earth Aditya.
Then came the big one. A small group of us riders decided to ride all the way from Mumbai to Shillong to attend the BOBMC Rider Mania. Most of the so called hard core bikers has excused themselves because of the sheer difficulties that we would encounter, but Aditya Raj Kapoor! He signed on for the whole ride! Through the breadth of the country, through Naxalite populated countryside, through biting cold and hard, non-existent roads, we rode! Throughout the ride, I was right behind him and watching the colourful LED’s on his helmet and bike, his pots and pans hanging from the Ladakh carrier and watching him manoeuvre through some pretty hairy terrain. My admiration grew for him. There was not a single whimper from him when we decided to stop and stay at local dhabas and tent on the roadside, my opinion about the celebrity biker would undergo a sea change on this ride.
Aditya Raj Kapoor is the youngest amongst all of us. The physical age is just a number, and I no longer give it any weight-age. But for just the sheer spirit of adventure that he possesses, Aditya Raj Kapoor is surely the youngest of us all.
So one fine day, when Vineet came to me and told me about the mother of all rides that Aditya Raj Kapoor is planning next, I knew we needed to be a part of it. With this is in mind, we met him a few days ago at the Prithvi theatre in Mumbai for a chai and chat and when we explained what we were up to, one could literally see the boyish enthusiasm on his face. He wholeheartedly agreed to be a part of our journey and kindly agreed for us to be a part of his!
Aditya Raj Kapoor with his Triumph Bonneville – Sunbeam
He now rides a Triumph which he has christened Sunbeam. Together, they will chart unknown lands and visit many a road that we can only dream about. You will be able to read more about their travels on his exclusive blog here .
We are excited and the last I spoke to him; Aditya Raj Kapoor is super excited about our journey. Here is wishing him and Sunbeam the very best in their travails!
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