Keep up the mileage
by Dr Ira Shah (MD Pediatrics) on 14 Jun 2020
I was studying at Grant Medical college during my MBBS. The commute to and fro from home to college was completely chaotic. I would spend about an hour in the morning going to college and about 2 hours to return home. The traffic on the road was completely unmanageable. A journey of 20 mins would take 2 hours! I asked my father to buy me a scooter so that I could commute faster. He would ignore it completely as he was afraid that I would be unsafe on a two-wheeler. When I realized he would not agree to my request, I gave him an ultimatum (as all teenagers do) that either he buy me a two-wheeler or I go and stay in the college hostel. Now my dad was in a fix. He told Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) that I was asking for a two-wheeler but he felt it was no safe for me. Next time, I told dad for a two-wheeler, he told me, “ask Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia).” I went to Kaka (Satguru Devendra Ghia) and asked him for permission for a two-wheeler. I also told Kaka about my problems with the commute. Kaka said, “give me a month’s time.” Soon, a month passed, I again requested Kaka . This time, he said- go ahead. My dad had no choice now but to buy me a two-wheeler. Soon I was the proud owner of a kinetic Honda. I went to Kaka with the bike for his blessings. Humble as he was, Kaka actually came down to the parking area to see the bike. He stood next to the bike, said a few prayers, and then blessed me that nothing will happen to me or the person who sits with me on the bike. He then casually asked me, what is the mileage that this bike gives. I told him that as per the manual, it is supposed to give 35 km/lit (I knew the regular average on Mumbai roads would be around 20-25km/lit).
I had a bike with me for about 10 years. I had few falls from the bike due to the famous potholes of Mumbai roads but due to Kaka’s blessings, nothing ever happened to me or anyone else. Also, to everyone’s surprise, the scooter gave a mileage of 35km/lit even after 10 years of wear and tear! Kaka’s casual inquiry was actually a blessing in disguise which I never realized!