15th August, Independence Day. The Inddiethumpers decided to rock the town. The plan for that day was to give orphans kids joy rides on the mighty Bull.

I did a night shift on the 14th and reached home at 5:00 am. Woke up in two hours, got my machine ready. I didn’t want to put any of those kids in danger. Got out of my place and rode for a kilometer when the Bull went dead. Tantrums! I just whispered, “hey dude, this is for the kids” and the bad-ass machine roared to life. As we passed the Andheri flyover I met a couple of brothers headed to Carter Road. Bullets are good enough to get stares and with Inddiethumpers on them, five were enough to cause chaos with the honking (Inddiethumpers style) and revving.

Bear hugs! The long lost brothers met. Sweety and dips dished out the Royal Enfield T-shirt. All the Bulls were ready to rock and roll. All knights mounted their steeds and revved up. It was a warning to the others - "Be quick or be dead ". The train of machines took off to the ashram. The dogs and locals were awe struck. The kids made a tidy line clad in their helmets as tiny riders, ready for their first ride on the Beast. It started raining and none of these kids had jackets. It was a touching sight. We removed our rain gear and gave it to the kids. It stopped raining soon.

Every Bull ready with its payload started out to the army camp Kalina. Sanjay captured the whole ride on his camcorder. Vernon said, “Boys, ride in staggered formation”. The cops escorted us and we had the roads to rule much to the envy of all wannabe plastics. As the train made it’s way to the highway, we didn’t need to honk. The 43 Bulls made enough noise to keep all at bay. As we rode people looked on awe struck.

One of the Thumpers led the kids in patriotic choruses and the kids sang about the sacrifice and glory of our country. The army guys were generous enough to display some anti-aircraft guns and radar systems. The kids got a spin on the canon as it revolved doing some kind of target search. More than the kids the Thumpers were anxious to climb on and have a spin. Hey in all this Varun collected funds for Payal (a gal suffering from cancer) all the guys chipped in. We collected 5k for that kid. After a snack and chai at the army base we headed towards the blood donation site. But before that the kids got some cool stuff from Cartoon Network - was a pleasure see them smile.

The blood donation had a few Thumpers donate as the rest had remains of alcohol from Saturday night. Meanwhile Bittu and Ishmeet test rode the custom made bikes. The small customized bikes under the great big Bittu and massive Ishmeet gave the owners a scare (first ride nah). Lesson to be remembered - if you join the Inddiethumpers with a customized bike it will surely be tested for all aspects. So get standard Bulls! Blood given, hunger struck and from the blood camp the Thumpers rode to Bandra R.E.M Showroom. Hunger stricken all rode a little faster. On the way to the showroom the Bulls halted at a signal and a Hero Honda Splendor got caught in the middle of the pack. With all the Royal Beasts snarling and doing the Inddiethumpers patent honk. That poor guy! All waited as the kids ate first. The Thumpers anxiously waited for their turn.

Well fed and satisfied the Thumpers did a couple of photo shoots in front of the showroom with all the kids. Now at the last leg of the ride, all Bulls took the kids back home. The fleet of royal machines glided back to the ashram with pride. The smile on the kids’ faces was priceless and the feeling was awesome. They were beaming with happiness satisfied with gifts, lunch and a first hand experience on the Mighty Bull! Rode back home feeling proud. Yes we are a motorcycle club and we will keep riding but with a heart. Was worth seeing those kids smile. Who knows who from them will be the next generation Thumper?