A recent gathering at Aravalli Auditorium had Gorkha officers in pastel blue and pink shirts and Dhaka topis, posing alongside a matte-finish Gorkha green-coloured Classic 350 bearing the crossed khukri insignia of the Gorkha Regiment. It was a meeting of two legacies, both associated with generations of service, discipline and an unmistakable sense of character.The association between motorcycles and the armed forces has long been rooted in the need for mobility, reliability and the ability to negotiate difficult terrain. For Royal Enfield, that relationship in India goes back to 1952, when the Indian Army placed an order for 500 350cc Bullets. The motorcycles were used for border patrols, including in Kashmir and Rajasthan, marking the beginning of an association with the Indian armed forces that has endured for more than seven decades.
Yadvinder Singh Guleria and Lt Gen Sanjeev Chauhan, AVSM, YSM, President, Gorkha Brigade
Speaking at the launch, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Chief Commercial Officer of the brand, described the new edition as a tribute to the Gorkha military legacy of bravery, loyalty and honour. The bespoke Gorkha insignia, he said, reflected the values that have defined the regiment across generations. He said, “The courage, endurance, resilience of the Gorkha regiment completely resonates with everyday working at the brand.Over the years, the motorcycles have been part of countless journeys undertaken by the men and women who serve our nation. The association with the armed forces has taken many forms over the years, and this is one of them.”That sense of shared legacy was also reflected in the words of Lieutenant General Sanjeev Chauhan, AVSM, YSM, President, Gorkha Brigade, who described the brand and the Gorkha as “two iconic legacies”. Drawing a parallel between the two, he said, “When the bullet starts, you don’t need a bugle call. The whole neighbourhood knows that something important is happening. This is, perhaps, why this motorcycle is a natural fit for the Gorkha.”A legacy that speaks for itselfHe noted how the motorcycle could give the Gorkha identity a new expression. “Earlier, when a veteran would go somewhere on a motorcycle, people might ask, “Kahan jaa rahe ho?” Now, he said, when they see this motorcycle, they will probably ask, “Gorkha ho kya?” “And I think that is exactly the identity we want this motorcycle to carry.”
Maj Gen VK Datta (retd) attended the launch event
Maj Gen VK Datta (retd), AVSM, SM, VSM, who now rides an Interceptor 650, said, “The first despatch rider I ever saw in my life had this 350cc bike. When we were young, we once took that bike off the stand, then we didn’t know what to do with it because it was very difficult to get it back on the stand. But that was long back, somewhere in the early 1960s. I started riding in 1964, and by that time the 350cc motorcycles were already running on Indian roads.”
