Pulling the throttle on the Ducati 1100. Unleashing sheer power and speed. You almost have to hold tight to ensure that the bike doesn't speed away from beneath you. Or at times, the fear of the bike going into a wheelie, akin to the bucking of a wild uncontrolled stallion. The italians truly have raised the bar when it comes to bikes and cars. There’s something mystical, mythical about the rumble of an Italian engine, whether it’s under the hood of a supercar or tucked inside the frame of a motorcycle. Food. Wine. Engines. The three things you can count on Italians to be superlative.
The Ducati 1100 Sportpro that I recently acquired is a blueblooded Italian pedigree.
The engine of the Ducati Scrambler 1100 Sport PRO is an air-and oil-cooled, 1079 cm³, two-valve L-twin engine with EURO 5 approval. The Desmodromic design of the inlet valves gives it that characteristic firing. The engine of the Scrambler 1100 Sport PRO has a lightweight crankcase and machined aluminium clutch and alternator covers. The two belt covers are also made of aluminium and they are also machined to enhance the aesthetics.
The first public appearance for the new Ducati Scrambler 1100 PRO was featured in a special lecture at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. In attendance were students, journalists, influencers and fans who discussed and analyzed the bikes’ design under the guidance of Jeremy Faraud, Ducati Design Centre Designer and "father" to the Ducati Scrambler 1100. It indeed is a work of art.
There's one snag though. It cannot handle speeds below 50 kmph or riding for longer periods in lower gears.The engine begs to be pushed, and rebels by heating up. A machine designed for high speed.
But then perhaps, this lower speed limit also aptly describes my mind and the speed of thinking. Perhaps its got to do with being a Neurosurgeon. My thoughts have a tendency to leap. Specially when I'm on my way to the operation theater.
My mind starts conjuring up images of how will I begin, what are the expected pitfalls and problems, how will I approach the tumor?, will I encounter the anterior cerebral artery on the surface? My mind then reminds me to ensure that I have the fine tooth bipolar forceps, and keep some temporary aneurysm clips at hand in case the trunk of the artery is injured. My mind really races. Just skimming through the different scenarios. Like a flat stone skips over the surface of a lake when hurled with great speed. Speed is one attribute a surgeon must posess. Speed of thought to deal with any catastrophe. Just as speed of thought being of paramount importance to riding this beast. Speed coupled with a trace of intuition. Intuition about how the driver ahead of me might behave. He could just suddenly change his lane right in my path. Or even better, just turn right without any indication. My mind quickly checks his speed, the angle of his neck, and the angle of his bike, if it's veering a bit to the right. These are cues about his probable trajectory in the next few meters. I need to make the necessary corrections of my throttle, drop into a lower gear, and perhaps tilt towards the left if I conclude that this bloke will turn right unannounced. All this computation needs to be done in seconds. You have to think fast when you are on a fast bike, or are operating on the brain. Consequences of a slovenly sloth like thought process can lead to fatal consequences in either domain. Bike or Brain. Riding fast powerful bikes certainly sharpens the thought process. There is no scope for any hesitation. It requires unambiguous clarity of thinking and execution. A commitment to your plan with unfailing conviction. Speed cannot compromise with the exactitude of ones decision. This attitude has most often been responsible for labelling my temperament as rash, impestuous, impulsive, etc. But time and again, the thought making factory in the chest has outwitted the slower more deliberate factory between the ears.
Intuition and instinct perhaps arise from a locus yet to be discovered. The Right brain? Heart? Solar plexus in the chest? No way to know. Split second decisions seem to emerge as a complex hybrid from without and within. A very quick observation of the environs, millisecond processing by the internal processor and then picosecond execution by the motor apparatus. Decisions that are not delayed by adulterants like Ego, Righteousness, Peer pressure, or any third party factoring. The purest, spontaneous and organic decisions are ones that obviate and shortcharge the Ego, effected from the inner being. Being a witness to the execution of this divine script is truly an intense spiritual experience. An awareness without the taint of doership, with the benediction of being the chosen means to effect a predetermined end. And then, after a major surgery or a great ride is accomplished, you look back to take stock of the event. One realizes that crucial decisions bypassed the neural networks of volition and were effected by the sheer synchronicity of a much more primal group of instinctive neurons that overruled my ego, its preoccupation with personal glory and the hubris of my intellect.
Riding a Ducati, or operating on the brain, both are self effacing, spiritual experiences that lead to a transcendental monk-like state of mind. A monk who indulges sans the ego. Rather than the monk whose ego is saturated with the virtuousness of being a self denying renunciate. Indulgence without attachment and bondage. The true Zen state.
Dr. Deepak Ranade.
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