My Scooter
The majority of people here in Mussoorie with motorized transportation, have scooters. Several weeks ago, i bought one. I wanted to spend more time down in town, but the hike was very long and tiring, so I found myself staying at the hotel where everybody spoke English.
A friend, Andy, took me to look at some scooters here in Mussoorie, and in Dehradun, but they were either in bad condition, or didn’t have papers. With the help of a teacher, I finally found a scooter at a reasonable price. It is quite old (1980), but it runs great. It is a lot of fun zipping up and down the hills.
I am also enjoying the popularity, and contact which having the scooter brings. Often men walking on the road will signal that they would like a ride, and I always oblige. I get a chance to speak some Hindi, and the get a lift. The best moment came yesterday, when a middle-aged Indian woman flagged me down. She was from Tamil-Nadu, and spoke no English. We both used rather broken Hindi to communcate. I gave her a ride to the local bus station, and felt like a real local.
Congratulations! I last had one in 1990 as an undergrad. It was finally taken away by my parents as my grades started suffering. But, you don’t have that problem.
Seems like the “phirang” scooter-wala has attracted some women fans now. I told you to learn some Tamil from me, that would helped you during the scooter ride
well…good luck driving man..be careful !!