DREAMER, GROUND-BREAKER, ACHIEVER.

From building motorcycles along with his brother and best friend to winning the Indian National championship, Ami van Poederooijen Iglesias shares his journey with Mitali Joshi on how he progressed from riding motorcycles on Auroville’s forest trails to the professional track.

- Mitali Joshi

“On the way, will be there in 10”, I received a text from Ami van Poederooijen Iglesias while waiting outside his house in Auroville, a forest town he calls home. I was greeted by his gorgeous black cat, who danced about excitedly, expecting a few scratches. To pass the time, strolling around the front yard, I stumbled upon a striking orange Contessa parked in the open garage - perhaps a work-in-progress, I thought to myself. Just then from behind me, a voice clarified my confusion. “It’s the first car I ever bought, I was 18, currently fixing it. Also, sorry for the delay, was teaching a friend to do a burnout for her magazine feature photographs”, said Ami, apologetically smiling as he parked his bike right outside his house.

While Loki, his cat, led us back to his house, I couldn’t help but notice the large number of bikes neatly stacked in another garage behind. A few of them seemed to be barely rideable. To this, he expressed, “I have around 30 motorcycles parked out there; most of them need work, and some are simply parts, but if put together, they would create a magnificent bike”. Climbing the stairs to his study room, chuckling, he said, “You may call it junk, but it hurts when one says that”.