Summary

Tathagatha Kishore, known as Gattu, creatively uses his neighbor's motorcycle handlebars as a prop for a traffic safety skit at his school in Chittaranjan, India, leading to a humorous and thought-provoking series of events.

Abstract

Tathagatha Kishore, affectionately called Gattu by his friends, is a student participating in a Traffic Safety Skit at his Convent School in Chittaranjan, India. Playing the role of a motorcycle rider without a helmet, Gattu is faced with the challenge of making his performance realistic. With bicycles not requiring helmets in India, Gattu's dilemma is heightened when he is fined in the play for not wearing a helmet, an accessory typically associated with motorcycles. Unable to use an actual motorcycle due to its weight and the unlikelihood of a 14-year-old obtaining one, Gattu resourcefully decides to use only the handlebars of a motorcycle for the play. Without informing the owner, he borrows the handlebars from his neighbor's motorcycle, leading to a comical situation when the neighbor discovers the missing part and involves the police. Despite the confusion and the neighbor's friends attributing the incident to bad karma and neglect of vehicle maintenance, the play is a success, and Gattu's ingenuity is appreciated by Sister Teresa. Gattu returns the handlebars before anyone notices, leaving his neighbor puzzled but more diligent about motorcycle maintenance. The story concludes with the narrator reflecting on the difficulty of obtaining a photograph of a handlebar-less motorcycle and inviting readers to learn more about Gattu's adventures.

Opinions

The author admires Gattu's creativity and resourcefulness in finding a solution to his stage prop problem.
The neighbors and their friends offer a humorous interpretation of the handlebar theft, suggesting it is a message from Lord Vishwakarma, the God of Machines.
Sister Teresa's appreciation of Gattu's resourcefulness indicates a supportive educational environment that values practical problem-solving.
The narrator's attempt to obtain a photo of a motorcycle without handlebars for authenticity shows a commitment to storytelling detail, while also acknowledging the practical limitations faced.
The story lightly pokes fun at the neighbor's initial reaction to the missing handlebars and the cultural tendency to interpret such events as messages from deities or signs of karma.

EDUCATION

The Motorcycle Handlebars

Gattu and the Traffic Safety Skit

Representative image of Gattu. Photo edited and taken by author

Tathagatha Kishore, Gattu to friends, was playing a motorcycle rider in the Traffic Safety Skit in his Convent School in Chittaranjan, India.

Gattu’s character gets caught by a traffic constable for not wearing a helmet.

The child playing the traffic constable had obtained the uniform of a security guard. He had added collar decorations in gold foil to the uniform, and was going to look smart onstage.

Gattu was going to look ridiculous, and it made him miserable.

Surita Miss had told Gattu to ride his bicycle on the wooden stage to better impersonate a motorcycle rider without a helmet.

In India, bicycle riders don’t wear helmets. In the play, after being fined by the gold foil collar traffic constable, Gattu was to wear a motorcycle helmet.

Photo of India’s yummiest motorcycle, the Royal Enfield Bullet.

His friends would never let it go, Gattu the bicycle rider with the motor cycle helmet. But what other choice did Gattu have?

A real motorcycle would have been too heavy for their wooden stage, even if he could arrange for one. Nobody was going to give a 14-year old boy a 104 kilogram motorcycle, even as a prop.

So Gattu made do with the handlebars of a motorcycle.

Handlebars of the Hero Honda CD 100, the Royal Enfield Bullet and the Yamaha RX100. These three were common brands in India at the time of the story.

Unfortunately he neglected to inform the owner of the motorcycle that he was going to be “borrowing” the handlebars of his motorcycle for a day, for the play.

Gattu simply woke up earlier than usual, got out a set of Allen keys and a screwdriver, and unscrewed the handlebars of his neighbor’s motorcycle.

Full pictures of the Hero Honda CD 100 and the Yamaha RX 100

The motorcycle owner was one perplexed person, when he called the police and told them that a thief had stolen not his entire motorcycle, but just the handlebars.

He pillion-rode on Gattu’s father’s scooter to work, where his friends looked at his phone camera photograph of his handle-less motorcycle. It looked awful, like it’s arms had been cut off.

They said it was his bad Karma and that Lord Vishwakarma, God of Machines, was sending him a message. He should change his engine oil oftener, he was neglecting maintenance.

Sister Teresa appreciated Gattu for his resourcefulness in procuring motorcycle handlebars. She said it was easier to imagine the safety message due to the relevant prop.

Gattu returned home from school before his dad and his neighbor got home from work. He replaced the handlebars.

The neighbor was left scratching his head about the whole episode. He does replace the engine oil of his motorcycle sooner, nowadays…

Note: To fully appreciate the story, do zoom into the handlebar pictures and see just how many nuts Gattu must have unscrewed and re screwed in order to get the handlebars off and then on again.

I tried to get a motorcycle repairman to give me a photo of a Hero Honda CD 100 without handlebars, but he refused. He said they do not normally remove them and it would be going against his customer’s orders.

I sat on this story for weeks waiting for him to change his mind about that, but he didn’t. It didn’t help that nobody in his family needed any teeth treated, or we’d have had that photograph. Guess we’ll just have to do with, instead of having to do without handlebars here!

Photo of narrator posing on fancy golden Bullet, owned by Dr. Naveen and Dr. Mrudula Acharya, my Bombay implant mentors. We like motorcycles! (I drive a Honda Fit and an Activa Scooty – the stand is on here, strictly posing)

If you want to hear more about Gattu and his escapades; here’s what happened next.

Kulwant Miss and her Trophy

A school story

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