[Entsurgeon]

"The day you join a medical college, i ll buy you a hero honda. Same day. No exceptions."

The lines never motivated me. I was hearing them once or twice a year since i was pre teen. My father came from a humble 1950s deprived childhood and never had toys. As a doctor earning decently through 70s and later, he could buy lots of stuff but childhood. He did the next best thing. He lived his childhood and adolescence ( adulthood too but first 20 years is 80 % of your life no matter how long you live.) in me- his only son among two daughters. He wasn't even offered a bicycle if he joins the medical school and probably that longing made him resolve that his kid gets a motorcycle from the first day of his college life.

I kept using my beloved atlas rebel mountain bike until last year of my college only occasionally using his bajaj scooter in exam times to save energy. So much so for an unsolicited promise that i never felt keen to ask for fulfillment. All my batch-mates kept getting yamaha rx 100s and samurais in those 5 years but it didn't make me much demanding. I was happy as i was.

March 1999 Sunday times had a red motorcycle on its jacket. And i construed, dad s words shall not go unhonored.
When he bought me a motorcycle that was one and half times pricier then others and fell in used m800 price territory, there was at least one person happier than me for letting me own a green cbz with a disc brake upfront. The very next day it took over 10 hours to install a set of clipons on the bike. That i can still remember it all over 20 years later as if it happened yesterday is a testimony to who i am and how much motorcycle riding shaped me as a person.
Mostly a one car one bike guy, i haven't sold my 2004 face-lift zen yet after 16 years, 280k kms and first renewal of expired registration. I drive a honda city 2018 now and after installing suspension bungs at front to tighten her up i wonder why people don't find her soft sprung off the shelf. Most reviews say she s tautly sprung. Maybe my current motorcycle has changed my baselines.

So much for a doctor from Indore who did his post graduation in ear nose and throat or otolaryngorhinology and is now happily settled at same place after a brief stint at mumbai for work experience.
I look forward to tbhp experience and support of my seniors here to keep that flame burning.
Cheers teambhp.

[V.Narayan]

Welcome Doc to Team BHP. In the mid-1980s as a junior executive of Tata's I was posted in Indore. Used to live in Saket; office was in Sanghi Motors. I loved the city for its simplicity, cleanliness and friendly folks. It was a city with the right blend of sophistication and homeliness.

[BoneCollector]

Welcome to the forum doc. Nice to see another one here.

I've stayed close to Indore, at MHOW for about 6 months with my brother while preparing for my PG entrance. Visited Indore, the aptly called Mini Bombay and the cleanest city of India currently, many a times. I guess one of the first malls of Indore, Treasure Island started while I was there.

Would love to see an ownership thread of your Zen which has been in your company since long.

Just go through the forum rules if not gone through. It'll be useful.

[amit_purohit20]

Welcome Doc, although I have been born brought up in Mumbai but my roots are from Indore.

I have quite few things to relate to you! My dad promised me to buy a motorcycle every year of my Engineering, ultimately had to buy it on my own!

I have a Vista used it for 10 years and only 43k on odo. Dont plan to sell it anytime soon.
Would really live to read your experience with the Zen and also your free consultations on the forum

Welcome to this wonderful community!

[Entsurgeon]

Thanks fellows.
Surely my zen will be chronicled here. It'll rekindle the old affair and make me relive lots of memories for sure. With me, she has also seen india and indore undergo a sea change.
@V.Narayan Thanks. The city is still going strong with same virtues and character despite lots of changes on the outside.
@BoneCollector @amit_purohit20 thanks again fellas. To add pictures of zen to the thread, i ll have to hit a lot of old albums. Early years in her life were still the days of film cameras and printed photographs. It may be a threadworthy experience in itself.

[samyakmodi]

Welcome aboard docsaab!

Looking forward to your "zen" thread here with lots of yesteryear's photographs.

[Chetan_Rao]

Welcome to the forum.

I was born in Dewas, lived in Indore, Raipur and Bhopal at different times (family still based in Bhopal), so MP will always be special.

We had a pre-facelift MPFi Zen that Dad still regrets selling. Absolute gem of a car, one of Maruti's original pocket rockets along with the short-lived Alto 1.1.

[Janjua]

Welcome doc! Happy motoring.

[Entsurgeon]

@samyakmodi thanks bro. You were pivotal in guiding me to decide a very important thing in life. That ownership thread will come before zen s i guess.
Thanks bros @Chetan_rao @janjua