Have you ever purchased a bike? If you have then you should have thought a lot about which bike to buy. Which bike would suit you the best, which would be economical, which would be reliable, which would have better pick-up etc. These are some of the factors you must have considered before making the buying decision. But there is one most important factor that most of us fail to admit and that factor is called GIRLS. If you want to know how a girl influenced my buying decision, just read on….

       "So boss, which bike to buy," asked my 'alter ego' for the umpteenth time. "Haven't decided yet," I retorted, reflecting on the mess I was in. I had just taken admission in one of the most prestigious B-schools of the country and promptly fallen head over heels for the most beautiful girl in the institute (In my opinion!) To complicate things I had decided to buy a bike. But which bike to buy was a problem, which had just assumed gargantuan proportions. The source of the problem as you see was my 'image' and my undying love for the 'Hulk' or as you call it, the 'Enfield Bullet'.

       The motorcycle is said to be a reflection of a man's personality. Most people tend to evaluate a man from the bike he rides, and the general thought is that you are known by the bike you keep While most people tend to think of the motorcycle as a means of transport, there are others for whom their bike is an extension of themselves. There are some who like to ride flashy bikes, others who like theirs to be indiscreet. Some give their bikes the stature of 'public property', which anyone can borrow while there are some who will start giving you menacing looks the moment you lay a hand on their bike. A man may belong to any category of bikers but most of them agree that a bike is something special, something at a higher level than a scooter or even a car. Comments like "I feel more confident when I ride my bike" and "Impresses the girls" or "Gives me a macho image" are pretty common to hear from youngsters. Considering the importance of a bike for a youngster, it is of no wonder that most of them give a lot of thought before arriving on a decision on which bike to buy, after all it's the IMAGE that really matters, not the bike. And image had just gained a lot of importance for me since the arrival of the girl in the picture. On one side I couldn't afford to have a rowdy image while on the other I couldn't have the image of a wimp either.

       Ever since I had rode one owned by my friend, the Enfield 'Hulk' Bullet had become my first love. So when the question," Which Bike to buy?" popped up the first option was the Bullet and there were no second options. I had in all finality decided upon the Hulk when my 'alter ego' stopped me on the steps of the Enfield showroom.

       "What are you doing man." he quipped, blowing smoke rings from his cigarette. "Going to buy a bike; bringing home the Hulk" I replied enthusiastically. "Don't buy the Bullet", the smoke from his cigarette making a question mark in the air. "But what's wrong with the Bullet" I tried to reason, ignorant of the mess I would soon be in. "The Bullet has a bad image. It is for the Goondas, Doodhwalas and Policewalas. A decent man like you should never be seen on the Bullet." said the 'alter ego' blowing a number of question marks in the air. "Oh! Come on, what old fashioned talk. Those days have gone. Now the company has changed the bike's image from a 'crude and utilitarian bike' to a 'come take your girlfriend out for a ride bike'. It's all right to go for the Hulk now," I argued already obvious of the impending doom. "Think of the girl, your second love.
How will she react when she sees you on that piece of junk, and to make matters worse, you haven't been able to woo her till now. Why end your love story before it has even started by buying the Bullet." Countered my alter ego this time blowing out the word 'Dilemma' in the air. "But there is no other bike which has the history, the aura and the image to match the Bullet's and it is the only bike that suits my personality and the only one I want to buy." I said meekly already accepting my defeat. "Come on man, surely you have other bikes in the market. Why don't you buy a Yamaha? It will give you a sporting image, or a Suzuki Samurai, which will give you no problems, or go for that Caliber or Splendor or Shogun," said my 'alter ego', "or better still go for that CBZ. I hear that it is really hot with the girls." He went on, this time the smoke from his cigarette converging to make the outline of a girl. And so it went on and on with my 'alter ego' arguing and I counter-arguing. My heart was with the Hulk but my mind had developed a mind of it's own and looked longingly towards the girl. No amount of coaxing and arguing would pacify either of the two and I had become a classic case of inner conflict. I was in a catch-22 situation with no solution in sight. This predicament of mine continued for many days and so was the case that day when my 'alter ego' again confronted me. "Its no use postponing the decision. Someday you have to act like a man and face the truth. Its either the Bullet or the girl, the decision is yours." advised my 'alter ego'. "But what do I do. Suppose I buy some other bike and the girl is a fan of the Bullet, or, I buy the Bullet and the girl never talks to me again." I cried in desperation." Why don't you ask her?" suggested my 'alter ego' before disappearing into thin air.

       So the 'alter ego' had solved my problem but at the same time saddled me with another. Now I was burdened with asking the girl her opinion about the Enfield Bullet which, I beg your pardon, was not an easy job at all. It was not that I could have simply walked up to the girl and in real John Travolta style asked her, "Err, what do you think about the Bullet. Should I buy it." and would have received a prompt vertical or horizontal nod of the head. This required all my shrewdness and the combined efforts of all my gray cells. This required tact and wisdom, this required an idea, and, I was not getting one.

My 'alter ego' again came to my rescue. " Why not ask all the girls in the institute so that you would get the response of 'your girl' without her getting an idea about your intentions."

" Good idea! I could easily disguise it as a Market Research exercise," I exclaimed unaware of the fate that awaited me. Now all it required was a little jugglery of my brain to develop a questionnaire for the survey in order to gauge the opinion of the female(s) about the 'Enfield Bullet' and circulate the same among the girls in the institute. To make it really convincing and to quench any doubts about the authenticity of the survey I even circulated the questionnaires among the girls in the neighboring institutes. An added benefit of this was that I could get an idea about the general perception among females about the 'Enfield Bullet' (Future prospects!). On the advice of my 'alter ego' I decided to keep the questionnaires as short as possible and to satisfy my male curiosity I concentrated only on the relationship aspects. After all, my main motive was to know the reaction of 'my girl' and not to conduct a free market survey for Royal Enfield Motors. So one fine morning I circulated the questionnaires among the girls. Frankly it was a very embarrassing experience for me, what with lying to each of them (rather unconvincingly) about the real motive behind the exercise.

To share with the readers the contents of the questionnaire I am reproducing it.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FINDING THE PERCEPTION OF ENFIELD BULLET' AMONG FEMALES - Read on...