The Irani & Parsi boys and some girls, who were like a band of brothers and sisters of those days were very much in love with their motor-cycles, and took great pride in owning them and keeping them in the most pristine show room condition, just like we used to keep our guns. We spent more time maintaining, cleaning & polishing our motorcycles than riding them. It was the pride of ownership that made us proud of our machines, and the general public would walk up to us and ask us questions about our machines and compliment us & say =wow= at them. We Parsi & Irani boys made the best motor-cycling teams. Honda and Suzuki were unheard of in those days. We had the best of the best twin engine “Triumph Tiger 100” the king of motor cycles, Royal Enfield, B.S.A. Harley, Norton and later on BMW. When we used to go on the roads just the thunder of our motorcycles could race one’s heart. It was a sight to see a long chain of motorcycles, on the old Bombay- Poona road, going from Bombay to Poona, which in those days was our beloved destination. En route to Poona, we used to stop over for Biryiani at the local stalls. Upon reaching Poona, we used to have a mouth watering lunch at the famous Dorabjee’s restaurant at Poona. (Not the bloody congested puny Punae of today). That was followed in the evening by the display of our 2 wheel machines, for which we had barging rights, and a history of the previous owners. A sumptuous dinner of Parsi dishes, at Bund Garden Lake Club filled with Parsis and iranis

This was the last act of the day, with a ride back home to Bombay the next day. Those days are carved in history in gold. For the record we were the most safe motorcycle riders in India, and were very mature for our ages, and we respected the right of other vehicles on the road, and in turn, the truckers and other drives respected us and gave us the right of the way, and let us pass them so they could enjoy a view of our shining thundering motorcycles.
Oh those were happy and fun filled days, when I grew up in the company of my Irani friends, and have always considered that I was very fortunate to have them as my friends, which to me was an honour and a privilege.

God bless them all for many, many more generations to come. May they not become prey of the modern day mixed marriages, hoopla and dilute their bloodline. May the Parsis & Iranis cherish the proud memories of their ancestors and marry within the community and keep our Zorastrian blood line pure. Then, and only then, will the future generation inherit the DNA, the genes and the qualities of their forefathers, that made them great.

To be continued…


Compiled, Edited and Circulated by P. MADHUSUDAN, # 53 Shenbagam Estates