The 16th Intl Jawa Day observed by Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club of Mangaluru – 22nd July
Mangaluru: Traditionally as is done every year, this usually occurs on the 2nd Sunday of every July, but this year the entire team was invited to Mysore to be a part of the festivities there. Also since 2 of their strong pillars were missing, Suraj Henry & Girish PV, out on their K2K expedition, the Jawa Day event here would be incomplete without them. So on the 8th July, around 27 members of the MJYMC team were in Mysore, where the Maharaja of Mysore, Mr. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, did the honours of flagging off the Jawa Day rally.
Following this on the 15th July, members of the Udupi Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club, invited the MJYMC riders for their version of the Jawa Day. So it was only fair enough that on the 22nd July, the riders of both Udupi & Mysore together with Bangalore and other satellite cities like Kasargod, Puttur, Moodabidri, Karkala were invited to be a part of this great event, this side of the Coast.
The event kick started off after the majority of 68 motorcycles from the Jawa and Yezdi era had all gathered together, at a programme held at Corporation Ground-Mallikatta/Kadri-Mangaluru on Sunday, 22 July. Apart from the Jawas, there were the entire range of Yezdi bikes starting with the ‘B’ Type Model, Yezdi Colt, Yezdi 175, D250 Classic, Deluxe 250, Road King, CL 2 and even the Yezdi 350 twins. At 3 pm, the programme started with the felicitation of the Chief Guests – people from different walks of life, whom nobody would look at twice, but are a very important part of our Society, with a self-less attitude, no less. Traffic Wardens – Mohammed AK, Bobanna and Ramesh, Sub-Inspectors traffic Chandra and Gajendra, Shyam Bhat who did an all-India tour on his Yezdi CL2 for 92 days in 1986, Subhas Chandra, Vincent Pinto and Shashi Kumar – Moto cross riders in the 80s.
After each of the Chief Guests spoke about their selves and about what the Jawa & Yezdi motorcycles meant to them, Girish PV gave a brief talk based on his 21-day K2K experience on the importance of Safety Gears and what Safety means while being on the road. Sadly, there are many who do not understand this, resulting in unwanted deaths and many injuries
After this, the participants from the Bengaluru and Mysore riding group of friends – the Kings Raid, were handed over mementos as a gesture of gratitude for joining in at Mangaluru. So too with the different riders of the UJYMC from Udupi. The Bangalore boys in turn also wanted to show their gratitude to the mechanics here who keep the Jawa & Yezdi bikes going strong, as well as the Core Members of the MJYMC who organize and participate in all similar events. Girish PV and Suraj Henry were then facilitated by Maha Pramod and friends from Bengaluru and then by Tejas and friends, for their great achievement on completing the K2K on the Lambrettas. Members of the different Motorcycle Clubs, who had dropped in to be a part of the event – the Triumph Club, Rx Club, Flying Bandits, Mangalore Bikerni, Mangalore Bulls MC, were all given mementos of appreciation.
Following the break for refreshments, it was time for a friendly Quiz competition, open to all, questions all about the Jawa Company and the motorcycles manufactured by them. This was won by Nitin from Karkala. There was the Slow Race next, which showed the riders skills where it matters most – anybody can just twist the throttle and run like crazy, but it takes skill and patience to keep your heavy motorcycle practically at standstill, while in gear, without keeping the legs on the ground, This race was won by Vivian. The last event before everyone called it a day, was the Figure of 8 in the shortest possible time. another test of skill, in balancing the motorcycle. This was won by Joswin with a timing of 19.9 seconds.
Just after the vote of thanks and prize distributions with the group picture, the heavens opened up. What a beautiful day it was!
Report by: Shawn Fernandez- Member, Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club of Mangaluru
