Mohammed Ayazuddin, son of Mohammed Azharuddin, breathed his last in a hospital room sometime in the morning of September 16th 2011. He was all of nineteen years old.
That Sunday, he had taken his newly gifted 1000cc superbike out for a spin, taking along his 17 year old cousin as pillion. The road they took was the Outer Ring Road, where two wheelers are actually banned. For some reason, the bike crashed. His cousin Ajmal-ur-Rahman, died the same day. Ayaz battled for life for about five days, before he gave up.
They say he was a good cricketer, full of possibilities.
The poor boy died of irresponsibility. On his part. On his father’s part. The kind of irresponsibility that makes a father buy a superbike for his teenage son. Technically, as a 19 year old, he should have got his license just a year back, and so he must have been quite inexperienced with riding bikes; even normal 100-150cc bikes at normal speeds. (of course, every boy who has access to a bike learns to ride on the sly as soon as they reach teen age). To gift such a young man a 1000 cc bike, capable of speeds close to 300kmph, is an act of sheer irresponsibility. To not insist that the bike be ridden only on a race track, and that too after being trained on how to handle these bikes, is even more irresponsible.
This young man, on his part, succumbed to the temptation of wanting to take his new toy out for a spin. Which young man wouldn’t? Tragically, he took along his younger cousin as pillion; his first act of irresponsibility. The second was to go on to a road banned for two wheelers. Maybe that was the only road where high speeds were possible.
And what was fated, happened.
The death of a young man, a talented sportsman, is sad. Sadder still is that such a high profile tragedy has not prompted anyone into action. Why aren’t the superbike manufacturers doing something to train their customers on how to ride responsibly? After all, do they want their customers to crash just because they didn’t know any better? And what is the law enforcement doing to ensure that untrained, irresponsible people don’t get onto machines they cannot control? They have been lax as it is in not being able to prevent certified nut cases and uncertified drivers from letting loose on the street. But in this case, there is not even a token gesture. Movers and shakers were quick to offer condolence to Azhar. But John Abharam was the only one who actually made a statement about safe superbiking in the media. And that was all.
Mohammed Ayazuddin. Hope his soul is in peace. As for the father who bought his young son a machine he couldn’t control, when will his soul ever find peace?
