Two-Wheel Nation

India may dream of glitzy cars, but a majority of people still work, live and survive on two wheels, zig-zagging through traffic as they plan their future

- RAJEEV NARAYAN

Relive the daily morning madness. At 6.30 am, before India's cities fully stretch awake, the nation is already on the move. Not in SUVs with panoramic sunroofs or sleek sedans boasting adaptive cruise control, but on scooters and motorcycles stacked with schoolchildren, tiffin boxes, office bags, gas cylinders and the agonizing urgency of everyday life. This is the India that rarely appears in glossy launch presentations, the India that balances itself expertly on two wheels.

A Honda Activa hums past without ceremony or ado. A Hero Splendor ticks off kms like a monk high on nirvana. A TVS Jupiter squeezes through traffic gaps that would give SUVs a heart attack. None of them make headlines, but they make mornings possible. Despite the brouhaha around car launches, connected dashboards and EV roadmaps, India remains - by habit, necessity and instinct - a two-wheeler nation.

Over two-thirds of personal vehicles sold are motorcycles and scooters. They are not lifestyle statements, but tools for surviving life. They do not offer escape, they promise arrival.

That this reality sits outside our national imagination is odd. Cars dominate advertising budgets, policy discussions and aspiration boards. Two-wheelers? They simply get on with the job, threading through traffic with a sense of purpose that cars can only admire from a distance.

Two-wheelers have always been India's equaliser. They flatten geography, shrink distances and create opportunity where infrastructure falls short. A scooter does not ask for wide roads, dedicated parking or forgiving EMIs. It asks only for balance, alertness and a certain philosophical acceptance of chaos.