15th International Jawa Day held to Mark Respect for Kargil War Heroes!
by Shawn Fernandez
Mangaluru: Every year, people all around the world, get together and get their beloved Czech made motorcycles – the indomitable proud JAWA, or Czech-inspired motorcycles such as the YEZDI in India – out on the roads! Why you may ask? Well its a day when the owners and riders would love to show off their possessions, show the world that these grand machines – that possibly once ruled the roads, not just in India, but in countries of Europe, as well as other continents – are still in use and after all these years, can still mark their presence. On the lighter side, some feel that the owners all round the world would like to make a circle of blue smoke, if just for a little while. But whatever it is, some like to ride in groups, some like to ride solo, some prefer to have city based events – its all a gathering of people and public, who can appreciate those beauties from an era gone by.
For those in Mangaluru, it was a bit different this time. as the year 2017 – turned out to be unique with many milestone events. This 2nd Sunday – the 9th of July, was when 30 riders from the combined cities of Mangaluru, Udupi, Kasargod and other smaller places, rode to Bengaluru to be a part of the main Jawa Day event, that was also a Guinness Record Attempt of “The Largest Parade of Classic Motorcycles” The previous record was held in France, for 187 Motorcycles, back in 2014. Needless to say, the Bangalore attempt smashed the Record – with 409 Yezdi Motorcycles! Now all that is needed is official confirmation from the Guinness World Records Committee.
Just prior to this, in June, a team of six of the Mangalore Jawa & Yezdi Motorcycle Club, riders with a few other members from the Mangalore Off-Roaders went off on a round trip to Leh Ladakh, while another member – Sachin Shetty – from Kaup, did a solo road trip from Kaup to Kashmir, and then to Leh with the other riders. On finishing that circuit, while the others returned back home, he continued all the way down from North to South, touched Kanyakumari and then continued back to Mangaluru and then home to Kaup.
It was on this trip, when the team visited the Kargil War Memorial at Dras, on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, that the boys really felt the solemnity of the area, and understood the pains of our soldiers who fought a brave war in 1999, losing many valiant friends in the months to follow. With these memories fresh in mind, it was decided that when the Jawa Day would be organized here in Mangaluru, those brave Kargil War Heroes would be kept in mind.
And so on 23rd July, as the preparations started in full swing, the Core Team members were at the Venue, ready to help prepare the grounds for the evening function. Still groggy from the previous day’s ride, when around 20 of them had rode to Udupi, being invited by the Udupi Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club – and then back by nightfall, they were still ready and pepped up. The youngest of them all – 5 yr old Kian Fernandez was also present for it all, cheering the guys and helping where possible. Not just to Udupi and back, but he was everybody’s enthusiastic mascot, propped on the bike’s tank, when he rode back from Bengaluru to Mangaluru– all 356 kms, after the Guinness Record Attempt.
The numbers started swelling, more so by members of other motorcycling clubs who had turned up in support – the BOMBers, MBMC, RevLimiterz and the Flying Bandits, among others. And the beauties of yesteryear’s started pouring in – beautiful , well maintained Jawas from the 1960s’, then the B-types, that were the first models to be manufactured at the Ideal Jawa factory at Mysore, under collaboration from the Jawa company in Czechoslovakia from 1974 till 1980. Then came the tough Roadkings, that were manufactured with Points system (also known as Dollar models) from 1978 till 1982, followed by the Roadkings with CDI from 1994 onwards. The D250 Classics came next, manufactured from 1981, followed by the CL IIs, from 1985 onwards. Then came the Deluxe models from 1988. Altogether there were 69 bikes, the oldest being Birosh Sebastian’s 1966 Jawa.
Among the rare models that came in were a 60 cc Yezdi Jet from 1979, that was ridden from Surathkal by the owner Girish Venkatraman himself, who incidentally has a great collection of over 45 vehicles in his private Museum and 2 very rare Yezdi 350 twins, from 1987. One of the 350’s had come in all the way from Mysuru by Manjunath or PC as fondly called. Another solo rider was Maha Pramod, who rode on his 1971 Jawa solo from Bengaluru just to be a part of this event. Sreedhar Kacchu and his wife, another active participant from Bangalore also made sure that he had joined in to catch up with all the riders and be a part of this. And then there an entire team of 12 riders from the Udupi club who made their presence felt, led by Richard Misquith and Sudheer Beedu.
Yes things were looking bright, and smoky and noisy and it was old friends catching up all over again, introducing and making new friends and of course, eyeing all the lovely machines. The Chief Guests in the meantime, had already come in and the programme shortly commenced. The DK District Ex-Servicemen’s Association, Mangaluru had warmly agreed to come and be a part of this. Col. Sharath Bhandary (Ex. President of the Association) and his associates Janardhan, Capt. Vasanth, Bhagwan Shetty, Capt, Deepak Adyanthaya and Purushottam, were warmly felicitated, following which, Col. Sharath Bhandary gave a short speech on the Kargil War. The riders and the general public, were treated to an emotional insight on what had happened during the war and how many often forget the brave sacrifices of our Servicemen.
After this, the team who had gone up to Leh Ladakh, Anil, Birosh, Girish, Suraj, Sudheer, Sachin and Vivek Shet, together with the back up team led by Sanjay Shet from the Mangalore Off-Roaders, were all warmly congratulated. A short quiz on few facts and details about the Kargil War followed and then it was time to felicitate all the Mechanics who even after all these years put in their hard work and time to keep the bikes going. All outstation riders and other motorcycling clubs were then warmly thanked.
One unique attraction amidst all this, was the Kargil Star of Support. A huge star, comprising of a collage of the Kargil martyrs and other related pictures was covered by phrases and sayings from the Kargil war. Everybody was invited to come and take a phrase from there, which would then reveal the picture below that, and also sign a word of support or encouragement. Club Stickers were put on too. Following all this, that entire banner would be sent across to the Kargil Army headquarters, showing them that the people from Mangaluru and Udupi and other places close by, stand in support of them and we really appreciate the difficult job that they do.
After a quick refreshments break, everybody was herded into a classroom, where a couple of videos shot by the ladakh return team were screened, giving a glimpse of the beauty as well as danger of the terrain there. So if people visit for a day or so, just to experience it all, finding it difficult, then we can only wonder at the life of those who stay there for years on end, for those soldiers who fight at the altitude in gut-wrenching conditions.
Following this, it was time for the outdoor events – a Slow Race as well as an Obstacle Race, closely monitored and well organized by Rayan CP and Ashwith. While many were not ready to get down and dirty, once the riders saw the fun and enthusiasm among those who started earlier, many decided to join in later. After all the rounds and finals, it was Roshan from Udupi who walked away as the Slow Race winner and Suraj Henry who won the Obstacle Race.
A warm round of thanks to everyone who participated and fond farewells to everyone and the 15th International Jawa Day drew to a close.
Note: The author, Shawn Fernandez is an active member of Mangalore Jawa and Yezdi Club