A spokeswoman for the California governor, Margita Thompson, said Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger passed both a written and a riding test and got the required permit on Monday, nearly six months after he crashed one of his Harleys into an S.U.V. pulling out of a driveway while riding near his Los Angeles home with his 12-year-old son in a sidecar.
But Ms. Thompson said Mr. Schwarzenegger, who broke six ribs in an accident years earlier, had not ridden since the January crash. She said he had been too busy governing but had finally taken time this week to make himself a legal motorcyclist.
I am reminded of India’s fascination with Harley-Davidson. Here is an interesting report in Clutch and Chrome.
“It’s been announced that Harley Davidson is considering bringing the American Legend to India. We take a quick look at India’s motorcycle appetite, the hurdles and the surprising history it already shares with the American motorcycle manufacturer.
“Having a solid 62% of the American motorcycle market and establishing a worldwide presence as far reaching as China should be enough, but now it seems it’s India’s turn to get seduced by Harley Davidson’s charm…
“But the love affair between India and Harley Davidson isn’t new. There were many old Harleys on the roads of New Delhi in the shape of motorized rickshaws called phat-phatis, named after the sound they used to make. In fact, during World War II Harley-Davidsons came into India by the thousands…
“No matter what part of the world, when young enthusiasm is mixed with the passion of riding, creativity isn’t far behind. There are famous stories in India about an enterprising young man, Wazir Chand Kohli, who brought the famous war surplus American motorcycle to New Delhi, converting them into three-wheelers, so the bikes could transport four to six people with ease.
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“These machines were hybrids: half were made with the Springer at the front end and half as a three-wheel motorcycle. The side-valve engines were removed and replaced with diesel. First appearing on the streets as long ago as the late 1940s, these machines could be seen on the New Delhi roads as recently as three years ago. It took the state government of India to outlaw them in the name of controlling pollution to remove the motorcycles from the streets.”
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.