Two Men And lessons they learnt from motorcycles
You don’t need no GPS to pinpoint 35-year-old engineer Abhishek Chaturvedi’s exact location on a busy street in Lucknow. Just look around for a circle of young men huddled in part admiration, part curiosity, and jostle your way in to find the man in the centre, humbly responding to one query after another.
Beside him, is parked perhaps the only true custom motorcycle in Uttar Pradesh, “Nawab,” built by immensely popular Jaipur-based outfit Rajputana Custom Motorcycles (RCM). The bike, that at first glance appears like an amalgamation of the bobber and café racer kind of motorcycles, is indeed like nothing else on two wheels.
It looks like this because its owner, Abhishek identifies his own self this way- “Subtle, understated, and yet unique.” “Less is more,” is what he believes in, and that’s the idea Abhishek asked RCM’s head Vijay Singh to incorporate in his motorcycle before shipping it off to Jaipur almost a year ago.
“There’s always a story behind motorcycle customizations that goes much beyond the motorcycle itself,” says Vijay. “When people walk into the workshop and describe what all they want done on their bike, they also end up describing their world, their family and everything that’s close to their hearts. I was asked to build some bikes that were birthday gifts or anniversary presents, and the customers’ level of involvement during the customization said a lot about the little things they appreciated and valued in the other person,” he says.
For Abhishek, the 13-year-old 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet Machismo that ‘Nawab’ was built on carried immense sentimental value right from the day it was bought. Bullet was the only motorcycle on his mind when he graduated from college. But his father, like most Indian fathers, wasn’t too sure of the practicality of his son’s choices. When Abhishek didn’t budge, however, his father lay down one condition- That they would together commute till the Bullet showroom and on reaching it, would buy it only if they saw a Bullet en route. On that fateful day, as on most fateful days when an Indian father places a bet with his Indian son, the father won, and no bullet was found on the road. But on reaching the showroom, the father took a loan and bought his son the Bullet.
Left, forever since, in awe of his father and the gift, Abhishek chose to spend close to 3 lakh to turn the motorcycle one-of-a-kind when he finally had the means to. But even as the bike is a tribute to his father, it also invokes the future- The handle bar has the names of Abhishek’s two sons engraved in copper.
Interestingly, RCM itself functions and creates in a very organic manner. While staff roles are largely defined, the hierarchy isn’t, and constructive inputs are always welcomed. Several components like camel-leather seats and brass monograms are handcrafted, the aesthetics are often inspired by local Rajasthani design, and several of the bikes have been christened with unabashedly indigenous names – “Bittoo”, “Rangad”, “Chingari”, and the like.
RCM formally began in 2009 after Vijay’s first custom motorcycle “Original Gangster” attracted rave reviews at the Auto Expo in Delhi. Three years, 20 odd motorcycles, and 2,23,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook later, Vijay is still as determined to grow old making custom motorcycles as he was the day he returned to Jaipur after studying in Canada for four years. He says, “RCM fans tell me it's inspirational to see someone being able to turn his passion into a profession. I tell them anyone can do that. Just try.”
(Photos courtesy RCM and Abhishek Chaturvedi)
You don’t need no GPS to pinpoint 35-year-old engineer Abhishek Chaturvedi’s exact location on a busy street in Lucknow. Just look around for a circle of young men huddled in part admiration, part curiosity, and jostle your way in to find the man in the centre, humbly responding to one query after another.
Beside him, is parked perhaps the only true custom motorcycle in Uttar Pradesh, “Nawab,” built by immensely popular Jaipur-based outfit Rajputana Custom Motorcycles (RCM). The bike, that at first glance appears like an amalgamation of the bobber and café racer kind of motorcycles, is indeed like nothing else on two wheels.
“There’s always a story behind motorcycle customizations that goes much beyond the motorcycle itself,” says Vijay. “When people walk into the workshop and describe what all they want done on their bike, they also end up describing their world, their family and everything that’s close to their hearts. I was asked to build some bikes that were birthday gifts or anniversary presents, and the customers’ level of involvement during the customization said a lot about the little things they appreciated and valued in the other person,” he says.
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| Abhishek with 'Nawab' |
Left, forever since, in awe of his father and the gift, Abhishek chose to spend close to 3 lakh to turn the motorcycle one-of-a-kind when he finally had the means to. But even as the bike is a tribute to his father, it also invokes the future- The handle bar has the names of Abhishek’s two sons engraved in copper.
RCM formally began in 2009 after Vijay’s first custom motorcycle “Original Gangster” attracted rave reviews at the Auto Expo in Delhi. Three years, 20 odd motorcycles, and 2,23,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook later, Vijay is still as determined to grow old making custom motorcycles as he was the day he returned to Jaipur after studying in Canada for four years. He says, “RCM fans tell me it's inspirational to see someone being able to turn his passion into a profession. I tell them anyone can do that. Just try.”
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| Vijay Singh |
