BENGALURU: Ever imagined what doctors do when they are not saving lives? Well, Dr Pramod Chinder loves riding his motorbikes that he has collected over several years. Chinder, who is a bone cancer surgeon, has also done trips to the Himalayas and has extensively covered offbeat places across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Chinder cannot exactly pinpoint as to when his passion for biking started. But he vaguely recollects that it was in Mangaluru, while doing his MBBS, that he began discovering bikes. “Somehow, I have thought of bikes as boys’ toys. While I was in Mangaluru, a friend of mine, who is currently a retinal surgeon, used to go to garages to renovate bikes. For me, the passion for bikes intensified from here,” says Chinder, who currently owns a Dukati, Harley Davidson, Suzuki Shogun, a 100 cc bike, Hero impulse and a vintage scooter, Vespa.
The 43-year-old surgeon adds that renovating bikes in the garage also helped him in developing his skills in medicine. “Renovating bikes gave me an innovative mindset and helped me come up with new things. It was all about jugaad,” says Chinder, who is part of various biking groups.
It might be difficult to imagine a doctor, who is a bone cancer surgeon, taking time off from his busy schedule to follow his passion for riding, but Chinder says he “somehow” manages it. “I have surgeries that span anywhere between three and eight hours, depending on the complexities. So planning a trip is difficult for sure. Once a month I make a trip from Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Shivamogga-Bengaluru.It helps me meet my parents as well as takes care of my passion,” says Chinder, who has opened a specialty hospital in his village.
Ask him what bikes he plans to add to his collection, and he says he wants to have a garage of his own, where he can renovate bikes too. “Having expensive bikes does not mean you have more fun. I have done a trip to the Himalayas on a Suzuki Shogun, which is a 100 cc bike,” says Chinder, who now does breakfast trips to satisfy his passion.