Buying a helmet?

From time immemorial every illustrated battle has a warrior in history who went down or floored armies with or without his helmet. I will not get in to the history of how a soldiers crown became a motorcyclists first line of defense. Be it in keeping the green reaper away on the track or off it. Yes this article in no way is to support, market or up sell helmets of any manufacturer. On a second thought when buying a helmet, if helmets became not just mandatory, but a component of a two-wheeler insurance policy sans the taxes it would make life easy.

Appraisal

With the new year around the corner and the onset of December most of us have either a fixed figure of a raise in CTC. some of us even have remuneration figure in mind, In some cases a cheery cherry a promotion too. “Let me get that raise and I will… (Add your wish list here). If not I will look for better opportunities. In all of these years of my work life, never have I come across an employee asking for a pay cut. Let’s accept it – a small denomination recharge gives you more talk time than the average vegetable. Specially when bought by the kilo and leveraged against each other.

The other picture of An insight to buying a helmet for yourself.

While the above paragraph allows you to drool in a confused state of mind, picture your head etched in tarmac with your eyes bulging out from the impact. All this while you are still in the sitting position on your two-wheeler. Now spice this up – you just died.

Now lets fuse both your income and your loss of income in a situation that leaves you brain dead for life. If that sounds harsh, a head injury that allows a highly paid executive owning a middleweight motorcycle to fry papad and pakoda’s to earn a living.

Now lets talk about the net worth of your current skill set, using this simple formula:

Net take home (less deductions and without variable income/perks/incentives) x12months x20 years

(You can increase or decrease the number of years depending upon when you retire or choose to retire from a full time job.)

*If you are a business professional or a doctor and such, here your monthly average income may be considered.

The total amount arrived at, is your net worth. Thus considering that you are a capital asset that does not appreciate or depreciate in value over the duration as mentioned under “years”. Here I have used a term of 20 years. This is considering that you took a home loan for 20 years. This is your primary of your investment and are working solely to pay that off, apart from other expenses. Is a cool pair of shades or a designer haircut worth risking the loss of income? Is it OK for you to leave your loved ones to grieve upon your loss? ( that is, in case you die)

Also, not too long ago a well respected writer shared his thought about purchasing a helmet. Yes, that echoed well with my extended family. Wherein he spoke on the lines that, “if you can afford a Smartphone worth 30,000 you can afford a helmet”

In case if that does not convince you just because you are a “safe and sane rider” astride a scooter. Here is something – A few of my acquaintances had near misses. In some cases their teeth chipped because they did not wear their helmet for an errand.

To conclude my pieced on buying a helmet, I’d like mention another writer who is a cautious rider. Yes, I was highly impressed by her ideology. Why I spent on a helmet even though I ride “just a scooter” is indeed worth a hundred helmet salute.

Photo Credits: Rishi Lokhande

Helmet: Axor Stealth Crazy