KARACHI: Who dresses up as if they are off to dinner so early in the morning? There were over two hundred men, and women, too, in dinner jackets, suits, waistcoats complete with ties, bow ties, etc, with their powerful two-wheelers gathered in the parking lot of Park Towers on Sunday morning and they had good reason to be there.

‘The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride’ is the world’s greatest motorcycling charity event raising awareness and funding for prostrate cancer research. On Sunday, Karachi was one of 500 cities across 90 countries taking part in the event. It was really a feast for anyone who loves engines to watch so many classic and vintage motorcycles in one place. All had been brought out from their safe garages for the occasion.

“It’s not as if I never take it out,” said Babar Sheikh about his beautiful silver modified 1974 Suzuki GS450. “Due to the city’s crazy traffic, it used to take me too much time to reach my destinations, so it has come to my taking it out on Sundays usually,” he said.

“I have modified my bike myself, scrapping off its original paint and then getting it buffed,” he said. “It is a brat-style cafe racer now,” he said, adding that it was a good thing to pursue a hobby. “One should have a passion in life otherwise with nothing to do in your spare time you get bored and maybe get into negative habits.”

Mehwish Ekhlaque, who has travelled up to the Pakistan-China border on her motorcycle, was also there, this time with her newly painted white 1986 Honda CDI 1200. She said she liked to take any one of her bikes or scooters for a spin every Sunday just to explore the beauty of Karachi.

Jahanzeb Rana had come with his 1979 Kawasaki 1300CC, FZX Yamaha 750 and Suzuki Bandit 200. Of course, he couldn’t ride all three of them but he had friends with him who were more than glad to ride them.

Also glad to be there and be part of the group were two young cousins — 12-year-old Mujtaba Imran and nine-year-old Mubashir Irfan. They were riding with their father and uncle, Imran Hanif and Zeeshan Hanif, respectively, who made sure that the children also wore small helmets.

The group of riders from Clifton to Saddar, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Jinnah Bridge, Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Road and Mai Kolachi from where they were back in Clifton where they stopped at the Dolmen Mall.

The fund-raising goal this year is $5 million to be invested in both local and global prostrate cancer research and suicide prevention programmes by the Movember Foundation, the world’s largest men’s health organisation committed to helping men live happier, healthier and longer lives.

Although Pakistan was taking part in the event for the second time this year, globally ‘The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride’ is in its fourth year. In 2013, over 11,000 participants in 145 cities around the world raised over $277,000, in 2014, over 20,000 participants in 257 cities raised $1.5 million and in 2015, over 37,000 participants in 410 cities rasided $2.3 million.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2016